5:30 AM

Sebastian wiped the sweat off his brow and pitched another well-aimed throw at the far-left ring. His smile widened as the Quaffle jetted through the metal hoop with impressive force and speed. A flawless shot. Though it was early and no one seemed to be around to witness the goal, Sebastian congratulated himself nonetheless.  For him, Quidditch was never about the attention, or the fame, or the girls, it was something as essential to life as air or water. Despite his father’s wishes, Sebastian had no intention of becoming the successor to the family’s investment banking enterprise. There was nothing glorious about spending the rest of one’s life mulling over numbers and charming little old widows and their half-witted sons. He would become a professional Quidditch player and no one, not his demanding father, or his overprotective mother, or his bitch of a sister, could stop him.

With a determined expression set on his face, Sebastian tilted his broom downwards to retrieve the ball. With the Quaffle scooped under his arm, he flew a few more laps around the pitch before trying out some of the new moves that he had learnt in the summer. There would be scouts this year watching the games and he must make sure that he was performing at his best. If it meant waking up every morning at 5:00 AM to practice, then so be it. Whatever it took, Gryffindor must win.

Nina had made some changes to the team this year.  Instead of his usual Seeker position, Sebastian was now playing as the Chaser, which he didn’t mind. He was a versatile player. However, the fact that she had given his position to the Eddy girl did deflate his ego somewhat. It was utterly and completely unreasonable, but Sebastian would like to think that he could play a Seeker and a Chaser in the same game and still kick Slytherin’s ass.

After a solid hour of practice, Sebastian landed on the grass and flung his broom aside. He allowed himself to fall backwards onto the soft ground and spread out his arms and legs. Absolutely exhausted, he stared up into the sky with heavy-lidded eyes and sighed. He checked his watch and allowed himself fifteen minutes of rest, no more and no less. If anything, he had self-discipline. Sebastian closed his eyes very briefly and thought, this was going to be a long day.

Grace Eddy knew that she was hardly the world's most naturally talented Quidditch player. But she also knew that she made up for that lack of raw talent with sheer determination. There was something to be said about a person who was a thinker, who needed to know everything about the way that their world operated and also needed to be deeply involved with it somehow.

Since the moment she had arrived at the school and had managed to find a friend who was knowledgeable enough to teach her all about it in George, she had been persistent in doing so. She could no longer count on her hands how much extra time she had spent practicing moves over and over again in every bit of weather imaginable at all hours of the day. She had been willing to put in all that extra effort because she knew that eventually it would be worth it in the end.

In previous years, Grace had been all too happy playing a secondary role on the Gryffindor team. She was the player that the team often had turned to in order to fill a role when someone was hurt or they lost a player temporarily. Just as she had been in her youth when playing sports with Cadan, she tended to be a player who played many positions well but wasn't exactly billed as the star. She was fine letting George or Sebastian or Nina have those accolades. She was content to sit back and be little miss reliable.

It seemed like her patience and willingness to be the consummate team player would pay off this year. Nina had mentioned that she wanted to play around with the roster a bit now that some people had left. Maybe she also wanted to change things up a bit to keep the other House teams guessing, since the poor Gryffs hadn't done well in the previous year's cup. Something needed to change if they were going to vie for the title and Grace had confidence their Captain could figure it out.

Of course, Grace hadn't banked on being permanently slotted into the crucial role of Seeker for the year. On the one hand it thrilled her to her core to be given such an opportunity. But she also was terrified that she might not be able to live up to all the expectations. What if I fail miserably? What if I fall flat on my face? As she marched purposely towards the Quidditch pit for an early morning practice, she tried to keep the latter images from crowding her mind too much. Plummeting to peril like Harry Potter was no way to start a year.

As it was, she didn't need much more of a distraction upon her arrival because she saw that Sebastian Pascal was already there. She liked her teammate well enough, but she couldn't help but feel that ever since Nina had announced the changes, she still got the feeling that he was having a hard time embracing the vision. And again, not that she claimed to be the ultimate key to their team's success, but Grace certainly felt she had something to offer to the team or else she wouldn't be there and try as hard as she did.

Knowing that she was simply going to have to make him and every other doubter around eat their words (something she was hardly a stranger to doing), Grace set her jaw, pursed her lips, and headed in his direction. It wasn't like she could avoid him; they were teammates, afterall.

As she got closer to his figure sprawled out in the grass, she called out with light sarcasm, "Out of breath already?" She tucked her broom under her arm and started to gently tug on her gloves, waiting for him to open his eyes so she could flash him an impish grin. "That's a bad sign for us if you can't even make it once around the Quidditch pitch without gasping for air..."

Sebastian was having a good dream, a very good dream, when an all too familiar voice goaded him into opening his eyes. He squinted against the sunlight and found the most beautiful pair of brown eyes staring back at his own. Nina? Arielle? Miles?! Sebastian raised a hand to shade his gaze from the rising sun and sighed almost immediately. Speaking of the devil...

“Oh, it’s you,” Sebastian tried to hide the disappointment in his voice but failed miserably. He sat up and forced a small smile at his teammate, “Morning, Grace. Just taking a break, that’s all.”

Her comment irked him. It wasn’t that he disliked her, quite on the contrary, he found her to be a charming girl. He had always been partial to brunettes, especially the smart and athletic ones. It was just that...Quidditch was Quidditch, and the fact that Nina had given his position to a former reserve didn’t exactly bespoke wonders about her confidence in him as a Seeker. It was true that he had lost them the last game and cost them an appearance in the finals, but with all due fairness, Saffron Padmore was a sneaky little thing and had outmanoeuvred him in a decisive move that left him in the mud and the golden Snitch in her hands.

The memory made him cringe.

In a way, he was thankful that Nina moved him to the Chaser position, but did she have to make Grace her new Seeker? The girl was unproven and inexperienced. If he could fall so easily to Padmore’s underhanded tricks, what hope did she have? Despite Nina’s reassurances, Sebastian remained unconvinced. It was freakish almost, but he could swear the girl knew about his reservations and seemed determined to prove him wrong. Women and their sixth sense, Sebastian thought dejectedly. To be quite honest, he didn’t mind. He wanted what was best for the team, but if Nina was wrong...

Sebastian shook that thought away. He picked up his broom and stood up. The teasing grin on her face stabbed at his conscience. It wasn’t her fault that they had the lost the game last year and from what he had seen of her so far; she really wasn’t that bad, on the field or on the eyes.  Sebastian wondered if there was a way to make up for his unenthusiastic greeting. He mounted his broom and flashed her a mischevious smirk.

“Tell you what,” He beckoned her closer, “How about a race?” His green eyes swept over her daringly, “Ten laps around the pitch. To make it fair, I’ll give you a five-second head start. You game?”

"Don't worry, I'm used to you not being thrilled to see me," Grace said sardonically to his less-than-enthusiastic greeting. Though her eyes had cut to his face in between adjusting her gloves, Grace was grateful for the ability to look away. She would never openly admit it, but Sebastian Pascal intimidated her. She didn't altogether know how long she had felt that way or even understand why, but all she knew was that she couldn't easily shake the nervousness whenever she was around him. She did well to mask it with sarcasm and other joking typical in the Quidditch setting, but it was something that was becoming more annoying for her to have to deal with, especially when she was trying to compete with him and against him.

Finishing her adjustments, Grace returned his forced smile and added, "But good morning to you too nonetheless, Sebastian." When he mentioned that he was taking a break, she gave him a once over and his appearance seemed to corroborate his claim. It was on her tongue to make another quip but she thought better of it. There was no need to annoy him completely, especially if she wanted some hope of practicing with him. It was better than being left to her own devices because even in her most stubborn moments, she readily admitted that she didn't know everything about Quidditch. If she didn't think he was the type to gloat about it, she might readily cede to him that he was in fact the better natural player. She could learn a lot from him in the way of strategy and skill. But Grace also knew that what was going to make her a good Seeker, and perhaps what Nina saw, were her intangibles. Grace was a scrapper. She made things work when everyone else said that it was impossible. And she could hone in on details--like a golden snitch--and focus all her energies on it. And finally, when she saw something she wanted, she pursued it with vigor.

Despite all this, Grace did feel sympathetic to Sebastian's position. Surely if the roles had been reversed, she would feel slighted and her ego bruised too, right? But the fact of the matter was, she wasn't him. And Grace quietly reminded herself that while she had taken his spot as Seeker, Sebastian was still likely to be a star as a Chaser too. His ego would probably mend in no time. He just needed time to get over the sting of his position being given to someone else, let alone a girl.

Sebastian's challenge of a race--and his generous offer of a head start--was immediately met with an smirk. Then, with feigned haughtiness, Grace tilted her chin slightly and reached up to brush a few errant strands of her auburn hair out of her face. "Of course I'm game," she scoffed. She purposefully settled herself on her broom and added, "But I don't need your five seconds of charity. Oh wait....you were meaning that as chivalry, weren't you?" She joked. Grace then flashed him her best attempt at a sweet smile before saying, "Did you forget that I have an older brother? If I can beat him at sports without an advantage....what makes you think I can't do the same with you?”

Who got up at this ungodly hour? George had questioned that enough times in the zombie jog he did down the stairs. He’d gotten up some time after Sebastian, remembering that he’d said he might tag along for some practice. Not being able to play last year had set him back a little… and so a little extra practice would help him. Still, he didn’t think ‘around six’ in the morning had been unreasonable the day before.

Now? He was lucky his boxers were on straight. Otherwise he’d have a very uncomfortable gait. Still… he’d thrown on a pair of sweats, clean (or clean enough), a black tee shirt, and a maroon hoodie (it said ‘Keeper’ across the back, something he’d gotten for his birthday). As worn in as it was, it kept him warm. Stifling a yawn as he neared the entrance to the castle, he once again asked him why he was going through with this.

When else was he going to get extra time in, though? Between spending his free time with Waker, doing actual course work, and normal Quidditch practice, he was fairly stretched. So that just meant he had to sacrifice some much deserved sleep for a necessary practice (nap time) in front of the goals. Because how was Sebastian going to score on him? That got him in the mood, and a smirk formed on his lips. Competition was healthy!

As he neared the pitch, another yawn threatened to escape him, and he tried to stuff it back in with a hand in front of his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief. He didn’t need beauty sleep, but it was helpful. Shifting the keeper gloves slightly so the string he’d laced through them wasn’t digging into the hollow of his neck, George gripped his broom and glanced at the two silhouettes mounting their brooms. Or at least one.

“No wonder you need all this extra practice, Pascal! You’re throwing without a Keeper.” Smirking as he stepped up, glancing to Grace, his eyes did a number over her before raising an eyebrow. “Are you two waiting for me to practice? That’s very thoughtful of you.” Giving Sebastian a friendly slap on the upper arm, and then giving Grace the same (though not as rough), he dropped his broom and gloves down. They were the special ‘Waker can’t see these’ gloves. Silly, silly Laney…

“We should stop flirting, though, and get some practice in… you need to get to my level of awesomeness before we can win this cup.” And he really wanted to win it this year, if only to help Waker paint in red and gold.

[Hope here's ok to hop in, if it's not, or you want it changed, let me know!]

Sebastian was mildly impressed by her refusal of the head start, but of course, he wasn’t about to let her know that. Girls like Grace were rarities: charming, principled, and not without a sense of fun. If it wasn’t for this whole Quidditch fiasco, Sebastian thought, I wouldn’t mind asking her out every now and then. His eyes wandered over her, and quite a looker too...

Perish the thought mate, Sebastian told himself, it’s not gonna work. She thinks you hate her anyways.

Sebastian shrugged at her joke and grumbled, “Wrong answer, Eddy. In Quidditch, always take any advantage given to you. The Slytherins would...” The words left a bitter taste in his mouth. As much as Sebastian believed in fair play, even he knew it didn’t always pay off. Slytherin’s tactics during last year’s finals against Ravenclaw could only be described as filthy, but, as Vienna fondly reminded him every day in the summer, it got them the Cup. What had happened to Schlagenweit was unfortunate, but if there was anything to be learnt from his ordeal, it was that one must get down and dirty when playing against the snakes. “Trust me,” Sebastian muttered, “Chivalry has nothing to do with it.”

He was about to speed off when George came over, looking a bit more groggy than usual. Sebastian rolled his eyes at George’s words and smirked, “I don’t see the difference, Carter. The Quaffle goes in anyway.” Sebastian cracked his knuckles and laughed in amusement, “Yeah yeah, talk is cheap, mate. I just challenged Eddy to a race. Ten laps around the pitch, think of it as a warm-up. You in?”

“Actually, don’t answer me,” Sebastian chuckled, “I insist you join. You’ve been spending way too much time with that Ravenclaw chick and it’s not doing wonders for your weight. I’m giving Grace a five second head start. I’ll give you ten.”

Grace understood that Sebastian had an inroads into the Slytherin psychee given that his twin sister was a snake, but she had her own share of experience with them. It wasn't like she was clueless to their tendency to be underhanded in their tactics. She had been the brunt of them for the better part of six years so it was something she new very well and perhaps in a very different way than he did.

This was why part of her bristled at his patronizing tone. That and the fact that she still felt she didn't need his offer of an advantage in order to beat him. It might have been foolishly stubborn of her, but in her heart of hearts, she would rather go down horribly in flames rather than not even try.

Grace bit back her sarcasm and instead chose to respond somewhat thoughtfully, "Yeah, well, perhaps there is a bit of Slytherin in all of us. We can all twist the rules of a game or even life when we want to." The image of Grace's Potions incident flashed briefly in the back of her mind, aptly illustrated that even she could be tainted by lesser morals. "Doesn't make it right. Doesn't mean we should be proud about it. But I guess that's the difference. Some of us are just snakes no matter what," she added plainly with a shrug of her shoulders.

Their little philosophical 'discussion' and subsequent plans to head off on their little race was interrupted by George's arrival. If Grace believed that Sebastian saw her as anything but teammate (and an irksome one at that who now had his former position), she might have considered George being there as an imposition. But since the interaction as teammates was probably all that she would ever share with the new Gryffindor Chaser, Grace returned George's welcoming smirk.

She would have given him a full out beaming smile if he hadn't given her a look and then made the quip about flirting. Grace could feel her cheeks flush, even though his teasing (and the flirting) was hardly anything unusual for them. As she returned his look, she wished that he didn't know her as well as he did. More than like, just in that simple look he was able to tell what she was thinking and know that the pink hue now creeping up on her cheeks was not at all due to the slight breeze.

Luckily, the topic of discussion was destined to be dominated by Quidditch and Grace jumped on George's comment about their team winning the cup. "We have a great team; We're going to do well," she said matter-of-factly, not even caring if it sounded too optimistic. She believed it and that was enough for her. Grace grinned as she slugged George in the shoulder. "And you're back and that alone is going to make the big difference. We all know it's the Keeper who is the real star of the team anyway," she joked. Grace snuck a sidelong glance in Sebastian's direction to see if he'd have any comment on that, but quickly returned her gaze to George. "Hey, speaking of star Keepers...I hear the Tornados may be acquiring a new one who is pretty amazing." Grace then made a sweeping gesture in the air and said with an impish grin, "I'm thinking of creating a shrine to him on my dorm wall. I think even Nina would approve..."

Her comments were tongue and cheek because it was pretty common knowledge that she and Nina were two girls who would not ever be characterized as the typical female groupie sports fans. Grace's fandom came in the form of spouting off statistics and collecting memorabilia, something that carried over from her interest in several Muggle sports. And while she did happen to think the new potential Keeper for the  Tornados was good looking, that wasn't the first attribute that she noted or spoke about with others.

Grace's attention was diverted completely away from Keeper talk at the mention of the laps again. Grace rolled her eyes at Sebastian's offers of the advantage to both her and George. "And there he goes again....George, will you please tell him that I do not need a head start?"

“I don’t see the difference, Carter. The Quaffle goes in anyway.”

A laugh escaped him and he shook his head, rubbing his eye with his fist. Boy, was he tired. “Now that you have the best Keeper back, hope you like disappointment.” He nodded a greeting at Grace, an amused half smirk on his face. “You look good holding a big ball anyway.”

“Yeah yeah, talk is cheap, mate. I just challenged Eddy to a race. Ten laps around the pitch, think of it as a warm-up. You in?”

Groaning slightly, he let his shoulders slump. It seemed Nina’s influence had started to seep into his teammates. Laps?! When they didn’t have to?! Opening his mouth, George was about to respond with a sarcastic quip. Then he was stopped as Sebastian kept talking, making George roll his eyes. Always gabbing, this guy. Smirking, he put his hands on his hips. He was shorter than the Chaser, and had long since accepted he wasn’t going to get much taller. He made up for it with personality, anyway.

-I insist you join. You’ve been spending way too much time with that Ravenclaw chick and it’s not doing wonders for your weight. I’m giving Grace a five second head start. I’ll give you ten.”

Feigning shock, George looked down at his stomach, patting it lovingly. “Waker likes this sexah beast.” Growling playfully, he smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. Ten seconds? “That’s it? You can’t complain when I win, though. You gave me the head start…” He was meeting up with Waker later, as a matter of fact. Some essay writing… bleh. He supposed he needed to do it, though. It was due in a few days…

He did notice the flush in Grace’s cheeks, but didn’t feel the need to comment on it right then. Merlin forbid she turn more Gryffindor than she already was. Smirking at that, he raised an eyebrow at her. Nodding in agreement at her assessment, he rocked back with the slug, laughing out.

“And you’re back and that alone is going to make the big difference. We all know it’s the Keeper who is the real star of the team anyway.”

Puffing out his chest a bit, he nodded his head, attempting a considerate look. “I like the way you think, Eddy.  Too true, too true…” Looking at his nails, palm turned towards him, he let out a breath against them and dusted them off on his shirt. “We’re guaranteed a win, so long as we all keep Nina out of practices. That girl can knock the wind out of a hippogriff by just threatening laps.” He listened as Grace went on about Tornados new keeper.

“But you’d have to take down my shrine… Unless you heard about an offer the Tornados have for me that I haven’t even heard of yet…” Tapping his chin slowly, he frowned and made a ‘hm’ noise as he glanced up. Nope, no offers yet. Maybe after their first game, since that was all the scouts would need to be sold on his amazing Keeper skills. Just look at the back of his hoodie!

“And there he goes again….George, will you please tell him that I do not need a head start?”

Making a face at Grace, he thought about it a moment before glancing to Sebastian, shrugging slightly at that. “That means I get a fifteen second head start, right?” Leaving the Keeper gloves where they were (he’d all ready shown them off to the team at one of their practices), he put his hand out and commanded his broom to his palm, grasping the worn wood. “Since she doesn’t want it and all…” Shrugging, he swung his leg over and smirked. “Give the lil guy a chance, right Pascal? Do you need a twenty second head start then?”

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at George. “I have always known Nolan had a thing for beer guts,” He quipped with a playful smirk, “You really gotta hand it to the Ravenclaws, brilliant and kinky. Can’t say the same about Slytherins,” Sebastian frowned a little bit, “or Hufflepuffs for the matter. Gryffindors on the other hand—”

Suddenly remembering that Grace was with them, Sebastian stopped short of completing his sentence and closed his mouth. Girls could be such nuisances sometimes. One could never talk plainly in their presence, the prissy ones especially. Sebastian never really understood why they always took offense to his jokes. Well, Grace wasn’t exactly prissy, he thought, noting the way she slugged George over the shoulders, but one could never be too careful these days. He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his gloves, pretending as if the topic never came up. Giving George a sulky look that plainly said “we’ll talk about this later”, Sebastian shrugged and turned away.

“And you're back and that alone is going to make the big difference. We all know it's the Keeper who is the real star of the team anyway..."

Sebastian rolled his eyes in annoyance. The way George received her flattery made matters even worse. Jealousy wasn’t the right word, but it came pretty close to describing how he felt at the moment. It wasn’t long before he felt even worse about that momentary lapse of...Envy? Resentment? Or whatever. Perish the thought mate, Sebastian told himself. George was good, scary good, and Sebastian was glad they were not playing against each other. Besides, if both of them got scouted, it would be for different positions anyway. Stupid Eddy, Sebastian moped. Grace always had a way of making him feel very frustrated with himself and her and everyone else around them.

“Don’t encourage him, Eddy,” Sebastian snorted at Grace, “His ego is inflated enough already.”  A small smirk appeared on his lips, “Besides, who wants to play for the Tornadoes anyway. Puddlemere is going to whoop their asses this season. Just you watch.” He smiled cockily at his two teammates. Sebastian was a diehard Puddlemere fan. His family had a private box in the Puddlemere stadium. Marcus Pascal always found the time to take his two children to the games despite his hectic schedule. Even Vienna genuinely seemed to enjoy these outings.

“Very well then,” Sebastian mounted his broom and hovered into the air, “Since Eddy is so keen on proving herself, we should let her, shouldn’t we, Carter?” He gave up trying to patronize her. If she didn’t want the head start, then so be it. It wasn’t like she had a chance at winning anyway. He smirked at George, “Sorry mate. Then no head start for you either. Wouldn’t want Eddy to completely humiliate you.” He flexed his fingers and prepared himself for takeoff. “On the count of three,” Sebastian motioned for them to get ready, “Loser has to polish Nina’s Quidditch gear. Three... Two...One and three quarters.... One and a half...Go!”

Grace was no stranger to "guy talk" and thus rarely took offense, even if she did think it was a little distasteful at times. She pretended to prune the imperfect straw of her broom as Sebastian went on with his assessment on how the four houses stacked up in that way. Though she could feel her own cheeks reddening as he mentioned their house, she did note that he didn't finish the sentence. Impulsively, she supplied her own ending. "Gryffindors are just...." She flashed him another impish grin. "RAWR!!!!" After a beat, she jokingly added, "But I guess we should keep that to ourselves, huh?"

In an attempt to not have to look either of them in the eye, she quickly turned away and started to settle herself back on her broom, making as though there was nothing unusual or awkward at all about the conversation they were having. Truth be told, Grace did wonder what kinds of things guys said about her when she wasn't around. And then the thought occurred to her that maybe they didn't say anything at all because they didn't see her in that way. She couldn't decide what would be a more mortifying truth.

Since she was looking away, Grace didn't catch any of the looks between the two boys, nor did she see Sebastian roll his eyes in response to her fawning over George. The back and forth teasing banter between Grace and George had been something cultivated over the years of their acquaintance and now it was just a natural part of their friendship. And though Grace expressed obvious affection towards George, it had been a very long time since she had considered him the object of her affection. And clearly since George was with Waker, the feelings were reciprocated.

Grace's brown eyes shot back to Sebastian's face when he chastized her for encouraging George's ego. Then, when Sebastian scoffed at the idea of playing for the Tornados and began talking about Puddlemere, she set her jaw defiantly and asserted, "The last I checked, the Tornadoes were a perfectly respectable team. And surely the acquisition of Ian Cuddyer, arguably the best player to come out of Canada since....well....nearly forever....is going to help them even more. And if you're still not convinced, I have no problem making a friendly wager on their first match of the season that's coming up." Grace conveniently omitted any mention of her favorite team of all, the Chudley Cannons, who were perennial losers. Win or lose, she would always root for them. But she did have other teams she would root for who were closer to the top of the standings, like Kenmare and more recently, the Tornadoes. Usually, anyone was better than the likes of Puddlemere, who everyone and their mother tended to root for. Squaring her shoulders, Grace said, "Besides, jumping on the bandwagon and rooting for a team that is the most commerically hyped is hardly anything to be proud of, Pascal."  

Grace turned away from him again and finally rose off of the ground. She took up a position in between both her male counterparts. Seeing as Sebastian would not let up about her wanting or not wanting the head start, she clucked her tongue. "I really don't think George worries about me humiliating him anymore. He's used to it," she quipped, flashing her friend a sidelong look. "See what you have to look forward to?"

Grace nodded agreeably at the terms of the race and pursed her lips and tensed on the broom, waiting for the cue to go. As soon as the words left Sebastian's mouth, she sped away, the wind hitting her face and causing her hair to whip like flames  behind her...

“I have always known Nolan had a thing for beer guts… You really gotta hand it to the Ravenclaws, brilliant and kinky.”

George looked down at his ‘beer gut’ and pushed it out farther, patting it lovingly. She did seem to like what he had to offer, even if it was a little less trimmed than it used to be. Was it? Now he was going to have to ask her what she thought of his gut next time he remembered it. Letting his hand drop and coming back to the conversation, he was about to answer Sebastian’s unanswered statement of Gryffindors with a ‘rawr’, but Grace beat him to it. Jumping slightly, he laughed and shrugged.

“Don’t want the Slytherins getting a taste of how amazing we are. Keep that secret to yourself, Grace.” Pointing at her, he narrowed his eyes playfully before smirking and resting his hands on either hip. It was a nice morning, even if he would have preferred sleeping in. Or doing something else in the comfort of his bunk without his fellow dorm mates in the same room. Like writing a letter back to Laney.

“Don’t encourage him, Eddy… His ego is inflated enough already.”

George grinned and nodded. “Can hardly fit through the door. Don’t know how Pascal does it...” Then he rolled his eyes as Sebastian focused in on Puddlemere. “I’ll listen and laugh.” He hoped his team put up a fight against Puddlemere for the sake of bragging rights. Who couldn’t cheer on a leprechaun mascot?! It was what he was planning on being for Halloween anyway. Kestrels all the way! Though he didn’t mind the Harpies either, if only because they were all females.

To Sebastian, George put his hand up and made the sign as if someone was talking too much, bobbing his head side to side and making faces. He quickly hid it as he saw Grace glance back to them, crossing his arms over his chest and attempting to look innocent. First he looked at her, then quickly to Sebastian, then up at the sky. Look, a bird. He couldn’t help but laugh when she told Sebastian he was jumping on the bandwagon. The two of them were such a cute pair of preteens.

“Very well then… Since Eddy is so keen on proving herself, we should let her, shouldn’t we Carter?”

George merely shrugged. If she wanted to see who’s were bigger… then that was her feel.

“Sorry mate. Then no head start for you either. Wouldn’t want Eddy to completely humiliate you.”

His mouth opened in mocked shock, though he suddenly felt a little worried. He was known for blocking shots and helping the team out as Keeper, not as the speedy jumping bean that zoomed across the field attempting to make plays… He did laps, but did them at a pace he was happy with. And hardly ever tried to outdo someone else at them. So when he was offered a head start, he thought that was fair. This! This was just going to be a slaughter. He merely frowned at Sebastian as he inched his broom back a bit.

“I really don’t think George worries about me humiliating him anymore. He’s used to it.”

Gritting his teeth, he flashed a sarcastic grin to Grace. “We should see how long it takes you to find the snitch, Eddy.” Smirking, he positioned himself a little lower on the broom; now it was a race, and he had to actually try… Damn Pascal! Still… they  knew he was the keeper, so surely they wouldn’t hold it over his head if he lost. As long as Grace won, of course. Nina would be so proud…

“On the count of three… Loser has to polish Nina’s Quidditch gear. Three… Two…One-”

George jumped forward, but heard ‘and three quarters’ before he got very far. Grumbling to himself, he settled back, glancing over at Sebastian with a slightly annoyed look on his face. Then his broom jumped at ‘One and a half,’ only settling back when he finally said ‘Go!’ He was a second behind the other two as they took off, leaning down on the broom stick to try and give him less wind resistance. He could always blame his lack of win on lack of breakfast. Or the fact he had been up for ages working on his latest… essay… Even that sounded a bit dull to his ears.