Aria Black and the Prisoner of Azkaban *Re-Write*

Woo-Freaking-Hoo

The next day, Oliver spends every free period training me. At four, the whole team is there. I work with Angelina and Alicia to score on Oliver. The whole time, it is pouring rain. The twins hit Bludgers at me, and I work on dodging them. One hits me in the arm, but Dawlish mends it and we continue to play.

At the end of practice, Oliver meets us by the bleachers. "We need to get some good sleep tonight. Hufflepuff will be very difficult to face tomorrow. But we are Gryffindors. Bravery defines us. So we aren't going to cower in fear at the rain like the Slytherins. We are going to go out there and win. And we are going to go out there in a few months and beat Ravenclaw. And finally, we are going to go out there in some more months and beat Slytherin. And then we can finally win the Quidditch Cup. Get some sleep, lads."

"And ladies!" Angelina, Alicia, and I chorus.

Oliver rolls his eyes dismissively. "Yes, and ladies. All of you get some sleep."

We go back to the dormitories, Dawlish following all the way. In the common room, everyone goes quiet.

"There's Black and her babysitter." Someone snickers.

Dawlish seems oblivious to it all. He just keeps his head up and walks behind me.

"Heard you're the new Chaser, Black. Daddy teach you the Imperius curse?" Corey Mason snarls.

I roll my eyes, and flip him off. "Screw you, Mason."

Dawlish leans down. "This is why you get beat up." He whispers in my ear.

"I get beat up because people suck." I hiss.

Mason chuckles. "You're gonna screw it up anyway."

"She got it by sleeping with Wood!" someone cries.

"Why don't you guys just shut the hell up? I'm not provoking you, just walking by. It's not gonna kill you to shut your effing faces."

Then I storm up to my room and slam the door in Dawlish's face. I cannot sleep. I just know I'm going to screw up tomorrow. My stomach churns. I go to the bathroom, and sit by the toilet. In a few minutes, Angelina comes in with a pillow and some tea. For once, she does not speak. Ange just hands me the tea. After I drink it, she holds my hair while I puke. Then I drink more tea, and she gets me to place my head on the pillow.

After a night of tossing and turning, I finally get up at dawn. I grab my broom and go down to the Quidditch Pitch, past a dozing Harry Potter. Dawlish would be furious if he knew what I was doing.

I grab the Quaffle, and practice flying around with it in my hand. I score on empty hoops as much as I can. I figure that I can't score on a Keeper if I can't score without one. So I work on new maneuvers and how to fly well. I definitely feel like I've improved, but am nowhere to the standard of Chaser that Katie is.

When the sun has risen over the horizon fully, I fly down and put the Quaffle away. Out of nowhere, a big black dog bounds up to me and starts chewing on the Quaffle.

"Hey!" I cry, making a dive for the ball.

The dog springs back, Quaffle in between his teeth. He jumps playfully, as if teasing me. He growls, his lips twisting upward like he's smirking.

"Oh you are so on!"

I move to rugby tackle the dog, but he jumps out of the way just in time. I curse and he starts running. I chase him further and further away from the castle. We are almost to the Whomping Willow when the dog turns to me. He sets the Quaffle down on his paws, and looks up at me.