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The Quidditch trials had Elle plunged into complete and utter panic, when she woke up Angelina and Katie weren't there but she was immediately motivated by Alicia and Lauren... especially Alicia as Lauren didn't care too much for Quidditch. She got changed and walked down to the Great hall to have breakfast although she felt so nervous she doubted she could eat a thing.
As she slid into the seat next to Lee opposite Fred and George, they all looked up and immediately registered her deathly pale appearance.
"You ok?" Lee smirked as Elle stared at the table in dismay,
"Yes I'm obviously brilliant" she smiled sarcastically as the twins sniggered,
"Chill I was only asking" Lee laughed "you should probably eat something" Elle grabbed some toast to shut him up but continued staring at the table.
"We'll make sure you don't get hit by a bludger this time" Fred grinned, this definitely did not cheer Elle up as she reminisced on the feeling of her broken arm and the wind wailing through her ears as she fell to her death.
Elle looked up at the twins who were beginning to look just as scared as she was, she couldn't help but glance over to George's plate and notice that he was indeed eating buttered toast with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled onto it. She personally thought this combination was a tad weird but she still found it cute nevertheless.
"You'll get it" George smiled "Oliver's practically already made the decision... don't let him hear I said that" Elle found herself lightening up, it was true that she had trained with the team yesterday and proved that she could play well with them.
As well as that Oliver had mentioned the lack of competition that she had which definitely made her feel more relaxed about the whole ordeal.
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Lee waved goodbye to the trios as they began to walk down to the pitch, Elle was still a bundle of nerves but with the twins telling her a constant stream of jokes as they walked, they definitely helped take her mind off things.
The pitch already had a gathering on it consisting of Oliver and Alicia along with a bundle of second years and two sixth years who were tall and lean. Elle gulped as she saw them before remembering what Alicia had said about them not being as good as they appeared.
Elle took her place next to them as Fred and George went to stand next to Alicia obviously keen to get started. Just as Oliver began to speak a voice came from behind,
"Hang on we're coming" Elle turned to see Angelina walking down in her uniform along with Katie, she wondered why Katie was down here as she never seemed particularly interested before. That's when Elle noticed that Katie was dressed in Quidditch gear just like Elle and the rest of the tryouts.
"I've decided I'm going to try out, if that's ok?" Katie beamed, Oliver looked thrilled by this and pulled Katie into a hug,
"That's brilliant Kate" Elle thought back to when Katie has described Wood as being like an older brother to her and felt her stomach drop. She smiled at Katie like nothing had happened reminding herself that anyone was open to trying for this position and she couldn't blame her for wanting a go.
However she felt that she now had slimmer chances than she had previously, this suspicion was confirmed when she looked over to Alicia and the twins who were staring at her with sympathetic expressions.
The second years had to go first and Elle watched as the team soared through the air playing like a regular training session but with a new kid each time. Elle sat with Katie on the grass ignoring the snide looks they were getting from the sixth years who seemed to think they had a chance of winning.
"I hope you don't mind me trying out" Katie smiled, out of the girls Elle shared a dorm with Katie was definitely the girl she knew the least however she never had any harsh thoughts about her, in fact Katie was a bright, caring and very generous girl who had always treated Elle like she'd been part of the group for years... even if it had only been a week.
"No of course not" Elle laughed, Katie smiled warmly,
"I originally didn't want to go for it because... well you seemed so keen but Angelina knew how much I wanted the position last year and I didn't get it so..."
"Honestly Katie don't worry about it... I'm trying out just like you, it's not like the positions been taking off me" despite saying this it felt a lot like the position had been taken off her, although she had been very nervous all morning when she thought about it, it wasn't as though she had particularly tough competition.
The second years were practically falling sideways off the brooms and dropping the balls at every path. As for the sixth years, they may look intimidating but if they were any good they would have already made the team just like Alicia had mentioned.
Elle watched as Fred and George soared through the air with their bats, heroically hitting the bludgers out of the chasers paths. Truthfully they didn't really need to be there for Wood to get an impression on the try outs chaser skills but it made it more realistic.
Katie was called up before Elle as Bell came before Lupin alphabetically. As she soared into the air Elle felt her heart beat faster. She wished her well but secretly she hoped that Katie would make once tiny mistake that would allow Elle a small hope of winning. However Katie played excellently with the team, it was as though she'd been playing with them for ages. She soared out of the way of the twins as they did their job, her passes were perfection and she managed to score past Wood five times which was four times more than any of the second years had achieved.
Elle knew that in order to beat Katie she had to score more than five times and with Woods keeping record this was beyond impossible. Katie gave Angelina a cheerful high five as they passed each other in the air and Elle felt the hitting realisation that the team would probably rather have Katie on the team than her. After all they had known Katie longer and she was Angelina's best friend along with basically being Wood's little sister. The twins were still rooting for Elle, she could tell that from the feeble high five they gave Katie but that didn't match to the rest of the team. As Katie flew back to the ground, she jumped off her broom confidently and strode over beaming.
"Did you see that I scored five" she laughed in pride "apparently no ones done that in ages" Elle tried to congratulate her as convincingly as possible which was difficult with the feeling of jealousy coursing though her.
"Anyway you're next Elle, so good luck I'm sure you'll do great" Katie grinned. Elle wished she could believe her but the tone of Katie's voice made her suspect that she already had it in the bag.
Elle grabbed her broom and flew up into the air where she hovered in front of the team,
"You know the drill Elle" Oliver smiled warmly, Elle nodded quickly trying to congest her nerves and get her head in the game.
Fred and George smiled encouragingly at her,
"You'll do great don't worry" Alicia grinned, truthfully she looked just as nervous as Elle felt.
The game started. Elle did a few solid passes back and forth with Alicia. Angelina was performing as an opposing team to get a better feel for dodging etc. It worked quite well as Elle spiralled impressively to avoid her while scoring her first goal easily.
Alicia and Elle continued their passing but this time they were intercepted by Angelina who after all was the star chaser. Elle darted after her and flew in her path making her swerve dramatically consequently dropping the ball, Elle passed this quickly to Alicia who passed it back in time for Elle to strike a perfect second goal.
Wary of the time Alicia and Elle sped up their routine, Elle came in close proximity to a bludger and saw a whir of red as Fred flew past to beat it out of the way, after that Elle aimed at the hoops before getting a flashback of the feeling she'd felt yesterday. Her head spinning as she accepted her fate. This caused her to lose balance and Wood easily deflected her ball.
The quaffle was safely back in Elle's possession as she began to realise she was only given fifteen more minutes before the time was up. She darted to avoid Angelina and aimed for the smaller hoop on the left which she bagged perfectly leaving her with three goals.
"Just get three more" George muttered to her as he passed making sure that the others didn't hear him playing favourites.
The fourth goal was easy as Angelina had a hard time avoiding a bludger, truthfully Fred and George didn't need to deflect the ones aiming at her since usually the beaters on the opposing team would, however since they weren't here it seemed only right that the twins should continue helping Angelina.
Elle caught the quaffle as it was passed down from Alicia but felt it pulled easily from her grip as Angelina soared past. That was the thing about the quaffle, it was light and easy to pass but also hard to keep a keen grip of meaning that it could be easily stolen.
Luckily Alicia got it back for Elle and past it, this goal was however deflected by Wood.
Two more goals were still needed to bypass Katie. If Elle got five and drew with the other third year then the judgement would go down to other aspects which would definitely be more of a close call. However if Elle scored six goals it would be impossible for Wood to choose Katie over her.
As Elle got the quaffle back again, Angelina called out that there were only five remaining minutes, Elle's pace quickened. How had time gone this quickly. She deflected Wood by making it seem as though she was aiming for the side hoop causing him to dart out the way, however she ended up passing it easily through the large hoop which he now left unattended.
Elle now only had a few minutes to make a final goal. Her hands were sweating causing her grip on the wooden broom to go slightly askew. Alicia passed her the quaffle and she dodged Angelinas initial attempt to intercept. However it didn't take long for the star chaser to be back on her tail. To her dismay she grabbed the quaffle as Elle passed it back to Alicia. To Elle's surprise however she immediately dropped it leaving the round brown ball hurtling towards to ground. Elle dived immediately feeling the wind whoosh through her ears again, she stopped below it and caught it in the crook between her elbow and her side.
"ONE MINUTE" Angelina called as Elle soared like a bird back up into the sky. Wood was hovering ready in front of the hoops and Elle knew that he never made it easy for her. As she flew up she passed the hoops causing the team to look in surprise. With that she aimed the quaffle down and managed to get it between woods back and the top of the hoop leaving the ball to flow effortlessly through the centre.
"THATS SIX GOALS" Alicia screamed in excitement not even hiding her happiness. Elle floated back down and was immediately engulfed in a hug by the curly haired girl who nearly pulled her of the broomstick she was gripping desperately to.
"Knew you could do it" the twins cried in unison as the team flew down to the pitch. The twins clapped Elle on the back in joy as Oliver couldn't help but suppress a smile.
Katie walked over looking disappointed but happy none the less,
"That was incredible Elle... that goal was... wow" she beamed pulling Elle into a hug which surprised her slightly.
"You'll do great on the team" Angelina grinned as she put her arm round her shoulder,
"Both of you would have been great but Elle it seems you were the winner" Wood admitted.
"We still haven't tried out yet" the loud voices of the sixth years rang out, the team just rolled their eyes.
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