I Know The End {Fred Weasley, ACT I}

Chapter 22- Quidditch Flops

April 1994. Fifth year. Everything always seemed to fall back to fifth year.

Eleanor liked playing Quidditch. It was fun. A good excuse as to why she was behind on her homework. She wasn't Harry though; she didn't love it with every fiber of her being. She wasn't excellent either. She believed her father's genes popped up to make her just good enough to steal a spot on the Gryffindor Team. It would explain why the only position she was any decent at was Chaser. James Potter had been a Chaser too, although he had been a rather amazing Chaser. She hoped the fact that she had made the team at all would have made him proud. She'd consistently beaten Katie Bell out of the spot for the last three years and that was enough of an accomplishment for her.

Alicia and Angelina were both far superior Chasers. Alicia surprised everyone with her ability on the Quidditch field. For whatever reason, the boys couldn't fathom how a girl who appeared so bookish could excel athletically. Lee antagonized Alicia the entire week before tryouts their second year.

"Charlie isn't going to ask you how many books you've read on the subject of Quidditch," he jabbed, "he doesn't care about your strategical analysis of the game. Can you even fly a broom?"

"I'm sure she can fly a broom, Lee," Fred remarked, "she'll fly herself right into the goalposts."

But Alicia was competitive. She'd beat you out for the top exam grade in Transfiguration and then beat Slytherin out on the field. The day of tryouts she put up the most points out of any student trying out for the position of Chaser and to Lee's disbelief, Charlie Weasley was incredibly interested in Alicia's strategical analyses. She was Charlie's first pick.

His second choice was Angelina. She simply had natural talent, there was no other way to put it. She might have scored higher than Alicia if she had been expecting her to be any competition. And she loved Quidditch. It was a slight obsession with her. She knew every player, every statistic , every broom type, the layout of every stadium in the entirety of the British and Irish Quidditch League. To anyone who asked her of her aspirations after Hogwarts, her replies always landed on Quidditch. She wanted to play in the major leagues. If not play, commentate. If not commentate, then coach. If she couldn't do any of that she'd settle for working at the Ministry in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. But mainly, she wanted to play. It was all she really wanted.

His third choice for Chaser was some bloke a year ahead of them named Milo McLaggen. He would have gotten the spot if Fred hadn't smashed a Bludger into McLaggen's head, giving him a nasty concussion along with a newfound fear of the game.

Fred's actions paved the way for Charlie's fourth pick to make the team, which just so happened to be Eleanor. Fred swore up and down that the whole McLaggen/Bludger incident was simply a stupid accident, but no one believed him. It was all too coincidental that Fred's best friend made the team due to his "negligence." Rumors brewed that Fred and Charlie conspired together to secure Eleanor a spot on the team.

Charlie's always favored her, they whispered, and I wouldn't put anything past Fred and George Weasley.

Maybe they hope she'll end up like her dad, I hear he was amazing.

Well, I saw her play at tryouts, and she wasn't all that.

Everything with her always boils down to favoritism.

Fred probably should have been kicked out of tryouts for friendly fire, but the fact remained that the twins were insanely talented Beaters. The boys liked to hit things. Smacking the shit out of a flying ball in the air was right up their alley. Eleanor often wondered if she would have made a decent Beater if the twins didn't always demand the position when they played for fun. She too found it quite enjoyable to hit things.