The next week flew by, and before Rose knew it, it was Saturday. She woke up to Aurelia pacing across the room anxiously.
"What's wrong, Rey?" Rose said, squinting through the sun pouring through the windows.
"It's just... Quidditch tryouts. Are you sure I can make the team? Last year there were over 10 people who wanted to be chaser and---"
"Seriously?" Rose grinned, rolling her eyes. "Daughter of Oliver Wood and Katie Bell not making the Gryffindor team? You're kidding me, right?"
"Okay, okay," Aurelia laughed. "Maybe I'm overreacting a little."
"I'm not even going to pretend to know anything about Quidditch," muttered Jessica sleepily from her bed. "But don't worry. You'll be fine!"
"Okay!" Aurelia said, holding both hands above her head. "Let's change the subject."
"Okay then," Emilia replied, applying mascara in the mirror. "Once I'm done with this, lets go down to breakfast."
❖
Rose quickly got dressed, and because it was the weekend, she wore a pair of jeans and a red shirt. She laced up her shoes, grabbed her wand and walked down to the Great Hall with Aurelia, Jessica, and Emilia.
Rose saw Aaron McLaggen lecturing a group of fifth and sixth year boys about Quidditch tryouts or something along those lines. She spotted Hugo looking extremely bored as McLaggen droned on and stifled a laugh.
"Quidditch tryouts today," Lily grimaced, picking at a piece of toast.
"You too?" Asked Rose. "Aurelia's been going off on how nervous she is too. You'll be fine. Besides, you're an amazing seeker!"
"Thanks," said Lily. "I guess I'm just nervous. But I've made the team since third year. I shouldn't be worried."
"There's the spirit!" Rose exclaimed. "You'll be fine!"
"Okay," grinned Lily.
❖
The day passed by quickly, and Rose, Lily, and Aurelia grabbed their broomsticks and walked down to the Quidditch Pitch. Jessica and Emilia had come down earlier and sat in the stands to watch the tryouts take place.
"Alright!" Aaron yelled at the assembled Gryffindors. "Seekers here, keepers here..."
Rose stood by a few other seeker hopefuls, including Laura Penn. She wasn't dressed in proper Quidditch clothing, and instead was wearing a low cut shirt and a pair of pants that looked painfully tight. She must have felt out of place, because everyone else was wearing Quidditch robes.
"I didn't find Louis in the library," Laura said simply, tossing her shiny, brown hair over her shoulder. "Were you lying?"
"Nope," Rose said, unbothered. "I thought I saw him walking down there. I guess he wasn't, but it isn't my job to watch after my cousins."
Laura glared at her and crossed her arms. She turned away to survey the crowds of people gathered in the stands.
"Listen up!" Yelled McLaggen. "This is what we're going to do!"
McLaggen told the other Gryffindors what to do and then reached Rose and the other keepers.
"We're going to take penalty shots on you," he told the group. "Rose, because you've played on this team before, we'll have you play keeper while we have the chasers try out. After that, our selected chasers will shoot on you and whoever saves the most goals will be our keeper."
Rose nodded, hopped onto her broom, and soared through the air towards the three goalposts at the end of the field.
"Jay Robins!" Called out McLaggen, and the tryouts began.
Jay performed amazingly, scoring 9 out of his 10 penalties. A few fourth year girls giggled as they flew threw the air and scored less than half of their penalties. McLaggen clicked his tongue impatiently.
Louis soared through the air and scored 9 of his penalties as well, and McLaggen nodded approvingly. After about 10 more people took shots and did alright, it was Aurelia's turn. She took a deep breath and began her shots.
The stands erupted in cheers as Aurelia scored the last of her 10 penalties. She had scored every single one.
"We have our chasers!" Boomed Aaron, grinning. "Jay Robins, Louis Weasley, and Aurelia Wood!"
"Keepers!" He yelled through the cheers. "It's your turn."
A small third year boy went first, blocking 6 of the 10 penalties the chasers attempted to score. Not bad for a beginner, but not good enough to get the position.
A few more people went next, the best saving 7 and the worst saving only 4. Then Laura flew up to guard the goalposts. She didn't save a single one, as she was probably too busy staring at Louis. A boo echoed from the Slytherins. Wait... the Slytherins?
A group of them in green scarves stood in the stands, cheering when a goal was saved and booing when a keeper did absolutely horribly. Standing in the front of the pack was Scorpius, his blond hair blowing in the slight breeze. Maureen Larkin, her sandy hair tied into a bun, tried to wrap her arms around Scorpius, who looked irritated with her. Albus stood right next to him, grinning at Rose and giving her a thumbs up.
Then it was Rose's turn. She soared up to the posts for the second time and flew, ready to block a goal. The first quaffle came soaring towards her and she blocked it with ease. The next on spun dangerously to the side, but Rose caught it before it soared through the hoops.
Out of all the shots, Rose saved 9. She only missed a tricky, curved shot courtesy of Aurelia.
"Our keeper is Rose Weasley!" Yelled Aaron approvingly.
The crowd was cheering wildly, even the Slytherins. Jess and Emilia were screaming and cheering, waving in her direction. If they were like this at tryouts, what would they be like at a championship game? Laura glared, sulking, as the chasers dashed over to Rose to hug her in congratulations.
The rest of tryouts went by quickly, and Hugo joined Aaron as the other beater. The only thing left was the seeker.
Lily strode onto the field, her fiery hair billowing behind her. The hopeful seekers were divided into groups of two and were instructed to try and catch a snitch. Whoever caught it would go on to face another winner until the final seeker was found. After several perfect catches, Lily was up against a burly, angry looking seventh year boy named Samuel Warren. As Lily and Samuel soared through the sky, looking for the snitch, Rose and her chaser companions cheered on Lily.
Finally, an exhausted looking Lily held up the snitch in one hand. The team went wild. Rose raced up to Lily as soon as she landed and wrapped her in a bear hug.
"I TOLD you you'd make it!" She cried, excited. "I knew it!"
Aaron handed out their Quidditch robes and a schedule for their practices before letting them free to do whatever they wanted.
"I think we have a good team this year," Lily grinned, skipping up the stairs to their common room.
"We definitely do," smiled Aurelia. "Especially with such an amazing keeper."
"Oh, shut up!" Rose smiled, shoving Aurelia.
"Snargaluff pod!" Lily called out to the Fat Lady, and the portrait hole swung open.