The Chaser's Heart

Year 3: The Three Broomsticks

'Congratulations.'

I startled. I'd been so focussed on the ball I was throwing at the wall, I hadn't heard anyone approach. Though, after a couple of Quidditch Friendlies, I could pick the voice that had spoken out of anywhere.

'Blimey, you scared me,' I let the ball fall to the ground with a dull thud.

'I scared you?' McNully laughed. 'You can hear a Bludger flying at you in a crowded Quidditch stadium, but you didn't hear me in an empty courtyard?'

'I was focussed,' I told him, feeling my cheeks go a bit pink. 'Bludgers have a different frequency than feet...er... wheels on the ground.'

'Thirteen was the charm, eh?' He crossed his arms and it took me a moment to understand his meaning.

'Fourteen, actually,' I corrected him and bent down to pick up the ball.

'Fourteen?' He repeated, looking a bit perplexed.

'Yeah, Quidditch trials were earlier last year,' I explained. He looked confused for a moment before it dawned on him.

'We're the same age,' a massive grin threatened to split his face. 'But I'm a year older.'

'No, you're the in year above mine,' I corrected him.

'Nope, same age,' he smirked.

'Right,' I rolled my eyes.

'That's brilliant,' he went on. 'Rubbish for you, of course. Must be hard knowing there's people like me who are the same age but have learned more than you have.'

'I don't mind, I'm used to it,' I told him, squatting down and then pushing my legs back up to launch the ball at the stone wall. I caught it and knelt back down into a squat again. 'What are you doing out here? Fancy a stroll?'

'Roll, more like,' he chuckled.

I fumbled with the ball and dropped it.

'Blimey, I'm sorry, I—'

'No need,' he interrupted me with a dismissive wave of his hand. 'Slip of the tongue, that's all. No, I've just heard the news and I wanted to say congratulations. You're a lot of fun to watch on the pitch, I'm looking forward to seeing more.'

'Are you?' I asked incredulously.

'Yeah!' He nodded. 'Orion's one of my best mates, he's kicking himself for not putting you on the team last year.'

'He wasn't Captain last year, and he'd have been mad to put me on the team instead of that seventh-year,' I told him.

'Maybe, maybe not. It would have been good to even have you as a reserve in any case,' he shrugged. 'What's that you're throwing?'

He indicated to the ball on the ground.

'A Quaffle,' I told him.

'Sounded heavier than a Quaffle,' he raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

'I made it heavier, it's better training this way,' I shrugged.

'Better for the legs, I take it,' he grinned.

I paused and looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He was definitely odd.

'Yeah, it is,' I bent back down with the Quaffle and launched it at the wall again.

'Well, I can see that you're busy,' he said as I caught the ball again. 'I'll see you later.'

'Right,' I nodded in his direction.

He turned around and rolled back the way he had come.

I have my head a shake and refocused on the task at hand. There was a reason I trained early in the morning, less interruptions from other students. Now that I was officially on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and had to keep up with the likes of Skye Parkin, it was more important than ever to keep fit.