The Enemy of my Enemy

The Hogsmeade Trip, Part I

Theo paced up and down the Captain's office. It was 6pm on a Saturday evening, and he had scheduled the first round of recruitment for the Slytherin team. He could hear the laughter, screams, and calls from the field above him, but it did nothing to settle his nerves.

He had been ecstatic when he got the Captain's Badge over the summer, but now the reality and responsibility was starting to set in. Marcus and Montague had made this position look so easy, but he had only seen the front, he hadn't seen all the work that it came with, all the time spent creating plays, or responsibility of scheduling practice, or even selecting team members.

The door creaked open, and he looked up to see Teddie scurrying inside. Technically she wasn't supposed to be in here, no one other than the captain was supposed to be behind the door, but he had asked her to meet him here for the sole reason that seeing her, being near her, calmed him down. He already felt his heart rate slowing the very minute she walked through the door.

"You look greener than our uniforms," said Teddie, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. "It's a good colour on your clothes, but not your face."

Theo chuckled, even though he could've thrown up there and then.

"What's the matter?" Teddie asked. "You've seen Marcus do this thousands of times."

"I saw Marcus led the team; I never saw him create it."

Teddie shrugged. "What's the difference?" she asked. "You were there for the try-outs in second year, you know what he did. Can you remember?"

"Partially," said Theo. "But, Marcus had Adrian and Derrick to help him. I don't have anyone yet."

"What am I? Roadkill."

Theo smiled.

"Theo, we've spent a whole week talking about this night," said Teddie. "I don't regret staying up late with you, but you have to put what we talked about into practice. The field is filling up with Slytherin students, you have to show your face."

"What if I pick the wrong ones?" Theo asked. "You saw how people reacted when Marcus chose me, and we didn't do any better when Montague chose Malfoy."

Teddie grabbed his hands, holding them firmly between her own "First of all, you are not Marcus or Montague," she said. "This isn't their team anymore. It's yours. You make the decisions. You choose the players that do well. You need three Chasers, three reserve Chasers, a Keeper, a reserve Keeper, two Beaters, and two reserve beaters."

"I also need a reserve Seeker."

"We could always give the position to Malfoy," said Teddie. "He doesn't get to be the star of the show, but he can have a chance if you can't play. But then... is it wrong for me to think that I'd rather him suffer by realising he doesn't get to play at all?"

Theo shook his head. "I have to remain at least a little partial," he said. "I can't just say no based on the fact that I don't like him."

Teddie pouted. "Fine," she said. "Fine. We'll give him a chance. Unless..."

"No," said Theo, pointing a finger at her. "No interfering. I'm glad you're willing to help me, but I don't want to risk my badge by doing something to Malfoy."

"Party pooper," Teddie teased. She took a deep breath. "Okay. You ready?"

Theo took his own deep breath and nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this," he said.

~X~

"I can't believe it's October already," said Mason. "It'll be your birthday, soon, Ted."