A Whole Different World

Chapter 17 - Drawings and Quidditch

As Mackenzie walked down to Herbology with Amy she remembered something, her brother, Hayden, was not going home on the holidays. She hadn't seen him in a while, but she was glad he broke up with his girlfriend, she was quite strange. Mackenzie would miss him that year. As she got closer to the greenhouse she saw Taylor and Gillian standing around looking at something Gillian was holding.

"What's that?" Mackenzie asked as she got close,

"A sketchbook I found when I was walking here, the drawings in it are magnificent," Gillian answered. She turned the book around to show the others a drawing of a rose, it had brilliant shading and a perfect outline, it was even better than a photograph.

Professor Sprout came and they entered the greenhouse. A few minutes after they were in Harry came in; he had been speaking with Professor Lockhart. The greenhouse door opened once again and Aneesha and Keira walked in, Aneesha was blushing furiously and Keira appeared to be sporting wet hair. Mackenzie glanced back at them and smiled when they walked in, Aneesha's eyes met hers but she did not respond in any form.

"Sorry we're late professor," Keira stammered,

"No worries, join in, you haven't missed anything." Professor Sprout replied. The two girls brushed straight past their friends and stood with some people Mackenzie didn't recognise, and she was sure they hadn't recognised them either.

They were re-potting Mandrakes that day. Mackenzie grabbed a pair of fluffy pink ear muffs and slid them on. Professor demonstrated what they had to do, the mandrakes were ugly things. They went in groups of four so Mackenzie went with Taylor, Amy and Gillian. She made sure her earmuffs were on securely, she didn't want to pass out. She found a small mandrake and re-potted that one; it was much easier than any large one would be. Mackenzie enjoyed it, she enjoyed Herbology overall, it was a fun subject. After Herbology she had a quick shower before going off to her next class. Gillian had handed her the sketchbook at the end of Herbology, Amy and Mackenzie spent lunch time looking over it. Whoever drew all of the drawings was extremely talented. Mackenzie was pouring over it, taking in every detail.

"Amy look at this one-" Mackenzie had started saying to Amy,

"Hey, that's mine!" she heard someone say, her eyes went up to see Dean Thomas of Gryffindor house standing over her,

"Sorry, my friend Gillian found it. You're an amazing artist," Mackenzie said to him, he smiled and thanked her before walking off.

Mackenzie later told Gillian whose it was and she replied with, "I want to know more about this boy."

*****

Taylor had asked Oliver Wood if he was taking any new Quidditch recruits that year, he said that there were tryouts two nights away. He said that Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell both obtained injuries and they needed two new chasers, whether they are permanent or temporary. With that, when the time came around Taylor headed down to the quidditch pitch with Gillian, both of them had cleansweep brooms of their own. Taylor knew that it would be possible for her to get on the team judging by the way she played muggle sports. As Gillian and Taylor skittered onto the pitch they saw the Gryffindor team: Oliver the keeper and captain, Harry the seeker, Angelina the Chaser, and Fred and George the beaters. There were also others trying out, including Aneesha and Keira. There were excited people all around.

"Alright everyone quiet!" Oliver shouted, at once everyone shut up and stared at him, "Get into pairs and warm up then we will start try outs."

Gillian and Taylor did some flying warm ups, strengthening their speed and agility. After that, in their pairs they had to go against Angelina and try to score with the quaffle while Oliver guarded the hoops. Taylor managed to score once, and that was pretty good for a second year. Playing those few minutes of quidditch made her feel great, the wind rushing through her hair and the thrill of the game. If she got the spot she knew she would train as hard as she could and be the best she could be. Taylor knew Gillian did well in the flying, throwing and catching, but she didn't score any goals. Only three other people besides Taylor did, and one of them was Aneesha.

*****

The next morning there was a notice on the pin-up board in the Gryffindor common room to go to the Quidditch pitch if you tried out for the team the day before. Everyone who had tried out stood on the pitch waiting for the team to come out of the change rooms. As they came out Taylor saw one of the twins throw a wink in Aneesha's direction. The team stood in front of them and Oliver spoke.

"There was a mixture of levels of playing yesterday. We can only pick two of you, and those two are," He took a long pause before continuing, "Taylor Heds and Aneesha Canilli."

Taylor grinned as her name was called and high-fived Gillian. Aneesha was grinning at the team, and then they both went forward and hugged them.

"Looks like we're a team now." Taylor smiled at Aneesha; she just nodded her head back in acknowledgment.

Later on the team, including the new members Aneesha and Taylor went to an empty classroom and ate some chocolate frogs and other wizarding sweets. The twins were non-stop chatting to Aneesha and Taylor felt a bit left out.

"I'd just like to thank you two," Oliver motioned at the twins, "For nagging me to put Aneesha in, and to you, Angelina, for nagging me about Taylor,"

"We didn't nag you!" The twins exclaimed at the same time,

"Oh, please! Your voices were in my ear all day and night going 'Put Aneesha on the team', you boys sounded like old women," Oliver laughed,

"I feel honoured." Aneesha said.

"Anyway, I think we should start discussing new tactics," Oliver said, everyone groaned,

"Honestly, Oliver, calm down for one minute," Angelina groaned,

"You know, tactics is tic-tac's swapped around," Aneesha stated in a tone people usually reserve for a comment that was incredibly smart. Taylor couldn't help but laugh at her friend,

"What are tic-tacs?" One of the twins asked,

"I never thought that I would be asked that question." Aneesha winked at Taylor.

"It's getting late, you young kids need to head to the common room," Oliver said to Harry, Aneesha, and Taylor, who all groaned,

"Just five more minutes!" Harry pleaded, as Harry kept pleading Taylor and Aneesha left the room.

"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting, I just-"

"Don't apologise. We've all been arses to each other." Taylor cut Aneesha off.

'So, I guess my secret donkey animagus form is revealed, huh?" Aneesha joked, Taylor rolled her eyes at her friends' lame joke; but she had to admit, she had missed them.