The Potter Family

Quidditch

James did not meet Albus or Rose the whole of the next day because of the different classes but when he came to the common room in the evening, he saw both of them staring eagerly at a new notice up on the notice board. "There's Quidditch try-outs tomorrow." said Albus eagerly when he saw James. "D'you think they'll let us try out? We know how to ride a broom and everything!" "I don't think so." said James pushing them aside to look at the notice. "You have to take lessons at school first and all that.....it's complicated." "We're going to try out." said Rose confidently. "Aren't we Al. You just want to get all the praise for being the only one in the family on a Quidditch team." "No." said James, reddening a little because what she said was half-true. "You'll just be disappointed if you try out. That's all." "I'm going to try out." said Rose fiercely "And so is Al.You can't stop us from doing that." then she flounced away. James looked at Albus "She's right." he said "See you at tryouts James." 

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James was late. He rushed to the quidditch pitch, out of breath. There were more people than expected including people from other houses. He saw Albus and Rose there too. He walked over to them. "There's Slytherin tryouts too." said Albus before he could ask. "It's going to last for a long time." Rose just made a face at him "Don't come crying to me if you're not selected." James hissed. "I definitely won't." she said rolling her eyes.
The tryouts lasted for a long time and Teddy, the captain of the quidditch team kept James, Albus and Rose waiting till the very end to 'keep him company'. When it was finally their turn, there were hardly any people left at the quidditch pitch, just a few stragglers. "Saved three posts for you." said Ted winking at them "Seeker, beater and chaser. I'll decide which is which based on your skills." "I'd better be seeker." said James exasperatedly. "Or staying here would have been a waste of time." "You'd be a good beater." said Teddy "Seeing your temper, all we'll have to do is get you angry before the game." "Just watch me play." said James giving Teddy a shove that sent him staggering back a few steps "See what I mean?" he called out, grinning as James mounted his broom and sped towards the goalposts.
In the end, James managed to somehow dodge and duck the bludgers that flew at him, caught quite a few quaffles with Teddy throwing them to him from his broom and for once, could not find the snitch within the time Teddy allotted. When he landed, sweaty and tired, Teddy thumped him on the shoulder. "Great catches." he said "Thinking of being a chaser?" "No." James shook his head "This is the first time I didn't get the snitch. I CAN be a seeker." "We'll see." said Teddy pushing him aside. "Rose, you're next."
Rose turned out to have a knack for hitting bludgers even when she was facing the opposite direction. When she landed Teddy gave her a hearty congratulation, even James grudgingly said that she was good "You're the beater." said Teddy "No doubt about that." Rose shot a triumph look at James.
Albus turned out to be fairly good at everything and caught the snitch in two minutes flat. "Your dad would be proud." said Teddy as Albus landed. "That had to be a record. So...." he looked at all three of them who were looking at him expectantly. "You're all in of course." he said "But....James, you're a chaser. Al gets to be the seeker and Rose, you're the beater." Albus and Rose grinned at each other but James shot Teddy a killer look. "I said I can catch the snitch." he said "I wanted to be the seeker." Teddy shrugged "You didn't catch the snitch. Al did. You can try out a different post for a year." James glared at Albus and furiously walked away. "James...." Albus made as if to go after him but Rose held him back "He'll come to his senses soon." she said "It's not your fault." "That kid needs some serious manners." said Teddy "Danny was better than him. I gave him a chance just because he'd kill me if I didn't." he grinned at Rose and Albus "You two can come for the practice sessions. Twice a week. We'll decide the days." "Okay." Rose said, nodding. "We've got classes to go to. See you later. Come on Al."
******
Albus bore the rest of the day's classes with a sense of impatience. He wanted to apologize to James even though he knew it was not HIS fault that he had been selected as a seeker. James's pride had been hurt and Albus usually took it in his stride to calm his brother down if he was in a bad mood or being difficult. He didn't tell anything to Rose though because he knew that she wouldn't agree with him. So, that evening when he reached the common room, he looked around for James. Teddy, who was sitting in a corner with some of his friends, possibly plotting something, noticed him. "James has been skipping classes ." he said to Albus "Ever heard about the room of Requirement?" "No." Albus shook his head. Teddy stood up "We'll finish this later." he said to the others sitting with him. "Got to go and show my little god-brother one of the most widely known secrets of the school." he grinned at Albus "You don't mind going to bed late, do you?"