My Sacrifice

5 The Try Outs

'Where were you last night? You left to study and never came back, you didn't even show up to dinner,' Evie says angrily. We are walking to breakfast. I walked back to the common room early this morning, when Draco was still sleeping, to avoid questions and Draco seeing me and remembering something and get ready for classes. The weather outside was beautiful when I walked through the hallways that early, it was misty but the sun was shining bright, this made the perfect temperature. 'Hallo, earth to Rose?' Evie snapped. 'Where were you.' I snap back to reality when I hear Evie and realize I was lost in my thoughts.

'I fell asleep in the library, when they closed it they didn't see me so I was locked up,' I lie. I hate to lie to Evie, but I couldn't tell her the truth. She talks, like a lot. And with her and Blaise, Draco's best friend, being a thing that just wouldn't be smart. To my relief she laughs and brushes the conversation of and starts talking about the latest rumors.

'Oh my, I totally forgot. Today are the quidditch try outs! Are you exited, nervous, scared?' She talks so fast it is almost impossible to follow. She is right though, today are the quidditch try outs and inside I am freaking out.

'I'm very excited,' I tell her 'but also scared, what if I am not good enough and make a complete fool of myself.' These were only part of my worries, what if a fall of my broomstick, what if I get hit by a bludger, what if I can't do it because of my sister. She got me my new broomstick the summer before my fifth year and tried to convince to try out for the team. That year she got absolutely obsessed with quidditch and we played quidditch all summer long. Because she couldn't play in a school team since she was only eleven she wanted me to do it for her. I didn't though, I was too scared.

'You are going to do great. I have seen you play quidditch and you are really good. You are going to beat the shit out of them,' Evie says and smiles at me. Evie saw me and my sister once. She came to my house unexpectedly and we were playing quidditch in the garden. Evie has been obsessed about me playing quidditch ever since and telling everyone I am one of the best players, after Victor Krum, she had ever seen. She probably also said something like that to Cedric which made me even more nervous, because that means they all have high expectations.

'Thanks Evie,' I say, I know she is only trying to help and it's not her fault I am nervous. We arrive at the Dark Against the Dark Arts classroom. Lessons with Umbridge have been awful, all we did was learn from books and write essays, we never practiced spells. Also I got at least ten death glares from her each lesson.

-

I finished all my classes for today and did homework. I am now walking to the Great Hall for dinner. The try outs are after dinner, so when I start eating my hands are absolutely shaking and I suddenly I am not that hungry anymore. I push the food on my plate around and listen to the conversations of my friends while I stay quiet. No one seemed to notice my unusual behavior so dinner went by and I rushed to my dorm room to change in my quidditch clothing and search my broomstick. During the day the fog had disappeared and so it was now very hot outside, the sun burns on my skin and when I arrive at the quidditch field I can see most boys have small droplets of sweat on their foreheads.

'Are you nervous?' I suddenly hear a voice say next to me. When I look to my right I see Cedric with his quidditch clothing on and a broomstick in his hand smirking at me.

'Yes I am actually. Aren't you?' I ask when I can't seem to spot any sign of nervousness on his face. His smirk only becomes wider when I ask this and I look at him confused.

'Why should I when I can watch you play the whole evening and even decide if you are good enough to be on the team?' he eventually says.

'Wait, you are the captain of the Hufflepuff quidditch team?' I blurt out. Now that I think about it, I never even thought about who the quidditch captain was.

'Yes, I am,' Cedric says proudly 'but, you don't need to worry though, I am sure you will do great.'

'Thanks,' I say and Cedric starts explaining how the try outs are going to go to the group of people. I am trying out for chaser and I am on a team with all boys. I grab my broomstick who was leaning against the wall. I trace my fingers over the wood for a moment and take a deep breath. Then I get on my broomstick and go up to play the mini match for the try outs. Cedric is flying around and looking at us while we play. Then I get the Quaffle from one of the other chasers, I rush to the goal hoops. When I reach them I see that there is no way I can score so I pass them to another boy who is trying out for chaser and he scores. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get to score, maybe Cedric will take the boy who scored because of this and not me. We resume the game and this time I get the Quaffle first. I fly to the goal hoops once again while the wind goes through my hair. This time I see an opening and when I throw the Quaffle towards the hoops, it goes effortlessly through the hoop and I score a point. For a moment I start breathing heavily and I feel tears prickle in my eyes thinking about how my sister would have screamed if she saw me scoring, but I blink the tears away and continue to focus on the game. After a while Cedric tells us to come down. I scored a couple more times, but mostly handed my teammate, the other boy chaser, the Quaffle so he could score, because there was no other option or the chances of me succeeding in scoring were so low that I didn't want to risk it.

'Well done everyone,' he says and I realize that this would be the moment he is going to announce who are on the team. He starts to list people's names and I listen carefully if I hear mine, but when he is finished I hadn't heard my name. I am not on the team, I think to myself. Cedric must have thought the other boy was better and chose him. 'Everyone I listed, can go back to the school. You all did very well, but you are not on the team,' Cedric says. But does that mean I am on the team? I am still looking skeptical at Cedric who saw me and was smirking again. 'Everyone else, you guys, and girl, are on the team!' He says when the other people walked away and were out of sight. I make a squeal of joy. I can't believe I actually did it! I made the quidditch team! 'We will start practicing next week on Monday and will take everyone's measurements for their match clothes, but you are now dismissed,' Cedric says and I run up to him and hug him. When I apprehend what I am doing I loosen my grip and take a few steps back.

'Thank you, for putting me on the team,' I say with a softer voice than I meant.

'No thanking me, you did absolutely amazing!' Cedric says. 'You were so smooth on your broomstick and you played in a team, you weren't selfish and kept the Quaffle to yourself like the other boys,' he explained. I smile, this would off made my sister so happy. 'Anyways, me and a couple of my friends are going for I late night swim. Care to join? I think Evie will join with Blaise.' Cedric looks at me with hopeful eyes. I didn't want to go, I didn't want to swim, I didn't them to see it.

I was back at my common room after the night with the fight between Harry and Draco. I pick some clothes and go to the bathroom. I undress, but when I slip off my skirt I see something on my right leg just underneath my underwear. I quickly take off my shirt and then I see it. A scar running from the top of my stomach to the top of my leg.

At that moment I didn't really see the problem, I just needed to change in the bathroom for the rest of the year. But I didn't have a one-piece swimsuit only a two-piece set and even if I borrowed one from someone it still wouldn't hide the part of the scar on my leg.

'I can come, but I am not going to swim,' tell Cedric, I don't want to disappoint him so this was the best I could do.

'Oh well, that's all right. Though I can't promise I won't pull you in the water with me,' he says with a wink. 

'You better don't,' I joke, but I mean it. And we walk towards the castle together.