Eighteen

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Juniper slumps onto the bench beside George and Fred, dressed in her quidditch robes. "Mornin' " The two greet her unenthusiastically. She just nods in acknowledgment and gives them the best smile she can muster. Oliver Wood thought it would be a great idea to start off the morning playing quidditch. Meaning he got all the players up at the crack of dawn and rushed them down to the pitch so they could practice.

Something about "Part of the new training program, blah, blah, blah, other teams haven't started yet, blah, blah, blah" and other stuff like that. She was too tired to really comprehend what was going on. "There you are, Harry, what kept you?" Wood questioned the 2nd year as Harry finally made it into the changing rooms, being the last one in. Wood starts getting into a long talk about new tactics while holding up a diagram he had of the quidditch pitch which had many different colored lines, arrows and crosses.

He tapped his wand onto the diagram and arrows started to move around the paper. Juniper puts her elbow onto her knee and lets her head rest on her fist, trying to listen but with how early this is, she couldn't help but drift off to sleep every so often. Juniper just couldn't seem to keep up with his explanation. Finally, after what felt like forever, Wood finishes his explanation. "So. Is that clear? Any questions?" He asks, looking around at the stoic expressions on all of their faces. He was way too chipper for this early in the morning.

"I've got a question, Oliver" George speaks up, lifting his head from Juniper's shoulder. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?" He wonders. Wood's mood immediately darkens and he glowers at all of them. "Now, listen here, you lot. We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately - owing to circumstances beyond our control-" He stops for a second to take a deep breath as Juniper grimaces from the thought of the last match they played from last year. It was a bad one and she really didn't want to think about it.

"So this year, we train harder than ever before...Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice" He says, bringing back his mood and practically sprinting out of the changing rooms. The rest of the players follow behind him, still trying to wake up. When Juniper had walked into the locker rooms, the sky was a pinkish orange tint since the sun was still setting. Now though, the sun was completely up. Surprisingly, Juniper could see Summer in the stands. She was reading a book. She glances up and smiles and waves when she sees Juniper. Juniper smiles and waves at her. How did Summer know about the practice?

Juniper looks around the stands as she kicks off the ground. She saw Ron and Hermione in the stands as well. Her eyes travel over to a 1st year. He was holding a camera and snapping a bunch of photos of Harry. Juniper flies around a bit, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. She loved Quidditch. It always felt so refreshing just flying on her broomstick, hair flowing in the wind. "Hey, Eleanor!" She hears. She looks over to George and Fred who were flying towards her. "Race ya?" Fred smirks. "You're on" She says before speeding off. Harry joins in on the race and they fly around the pitch.

"What's that funny clicking noise?" Fred asks as they make their third lap. Juniper looks into the stands where the 1st year was still at. He had moved up to the highest tower and was rapidly taking pictures, calling out for Harry. The four stop racing and look over at him. "Who's that?" Fred questions. "No idea" Harry shrugs before flying off away from the 1st year. The others follow him as Wood comes towards them. "What's going on? Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program." Oliver starts ranting, frowning over at the 1st year.

"He's in Gryffindor" Harry brings up and Juniper looks over at him confused. How come she's never seen him around? "And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver" George adds. "What makes you say that?" Wood challenges. "Because they're here in person" George says, pointing down at the group of Slytherins, walking onto the pitch. "I don't believe it! I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!" He spits before tunneling to the ground. The other four follow him as he slams onto the ground and dismounts, heading straight for the captain of the Slytherin team.

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