"D'you think we made it?" Kaleb asked as Gaia walked beside him.

"I think we've got a pretty good chance." Gaia grinned.

The try-outs had just finished a little over an hour ago. Gaia was quite pleased with how she played, so she was feeling confident.

Gaia waved goodbye as Kaleb turned a different corner, both students heading towards different classes – Gaia's class being Herbology. As she made her way to her class, she was intercepted by a pair of twins.

"Hey Gaia!" Fred grinned as he and his brother blocked her way, "We heard that-"

"-Ravenclaw just finished-"

"-their try-outs! So-"

"-how was it?" they finished saying the last phrase in chorus.

"How many times have I told you two not to do that? It's extremely creepy!" Gaia grumbled, pushing past them to get to her classroom.

"You didn't answer the question," Fred drawled, turning to follow Gaia with his hands shoved into his pockets, George right beside him.

"It was fine." Gaia broke into a grin, "Great, actually! I've got a good feeling about it!"

"Gryffindor try-outs are later right after last period," George informed her.

"Wish us luck, will you?" Fred winked.

An unfamiliar feeling washed over Gaia, the girl opting to ignore it. No, she did NOT have a crush on any of them.

"You know I will. I'll be looking forward to beating you in a game," Gaia teased.

"Never," the twins chorused.

The two bid her goodbye before heading their own way, chasing each other down the hall and laughing loudly. Gaia shook her head fondly, watching as they disappeared behind a corner.

She entered the greenhouse, still feeling slightly giddy from the try-outs and her previous encounter with the twins, which was evident by the faded yellow at the roots of her hair. She took a seat beside Cole, whose eyes were drooping slightly as he swayed in his position.

"Hey Cole," Gaia greeted, making the Gryffindor jerk slightly. He turned to her with a small grin.

"Hello Ria," Cole slurred, sleep bleeding into his voice.

"You trying out for the Quidditch team? Fred and Georg told me it was later today," Gaia asked, watching as more students entered the greenhouse.

The question seemed to wake him up slightly, but his eyes still seemed tired despite the excitement present in them.

"Yeah! I'm trying out for chaser, actually," Cole answered.

"I tried out for chaser too!" Gaia exclaimed with a grin.

Cole grinned back, all ounce of sleepiness gone from his person, instead replaced by fierce competitiveness.

"Guess we'll see who's the better chaser when we have a match, won't we?"

✧✧✧

"Welcome, everyone, to the first Quidditch game of the season! The teams that will be competing today are Gryffindor and Ravenclaw!"

Gaia's hair was fully grey no matter how much she tried to change it back. So much for Professor McGonagall's lessons, she thought. The Ravenclaw team stood at one of the entrances to the pitch, ready to fly off once they were called. Trying to take her mind off of her nerves, she looked around and observed her fellow teammates.

Charles Hilton was the team captain and the keeper for Ravenclaw. He was a tall, lean, 7th year student that often went around to assist younger Ravenclaws. Gaia had seen him a few times before, even in her 1st year.

Leigh-Anne Green was a 7th year as well as one of the chasers. She was mostly quiet, but her aura was comforting to Gaia.

Jasmine Krost was a 6th year who had been partnered up with Kaleb during the try-outs. She was quite outspoken, often joking around with their other teammates. Gaia found her very entertaining.

Hailey Martin was a 5th year beater, one of the only female beaters in all of the teams. She wasn't as energetic as Jasmine, but she definitely wasn't quiet or shy.

Michael Elliot was the same year as Gaia, a 2nd year who had just made it into the team. He was quite reserved, but Gaia learned during trainings that he could be quite loud around friends. He also loved teasing Gaia, a fact that annoyed her to no end (though there were no hard feelings between them).

Finally, Joanne Prince was a 5th year and the seeker for their team. She was similar to Leigh-Anne, though she did join in with the banter occasionally as opposed to Anne who usually just stood to the side and laughed along.

"Don't let them know you're nervous, Gaia." Michael grinned, his beater's bat held tightly in his left hand.

"Thanks for the advice, Elliot. It can't possibly be obvious by my appearance what I'm feeling," Gaia responded sarcastically, rolling her eyes as Michael bent over slightly due to his laughter, "As if your nerves are any better."

"Messing with you makes me feel better," Michael said, shifting to avoid Gaia's hand that went to slap his arm.

"Now we have the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team!" Lee's voice boomed from outside.

"That's our cue everyone!" Charles said, "Goodluck!"

The Ravenclaws mounted their brooms and flew out into the pitch. Screams and cheers from the blue house filled the pitch as the players did a lap around the field. Eventually, they took their places at the middle, in front of the Gryffindor team.

The two captains exchange challenging looks, attempting to intimidate each other albeit playfully. Gaia let her gaze rest on the person straight ahead of her – Cole.

'Good luck,' she mouthed.

'Try not to get too mad when we beat you,' Cole replied. Gaia scoffed and shook her head.

'You wish.'

Her eyes found the Weasley twins' both sporting lazy smirks on their faces. Fred winked playfully at her as Madam Hooch made her way out into the field.

The unfamiliar feeling washed over Gaia again, making her shake her head slightly in confusion. Perhaps, it was just her nerves coming back.

"Madam Hooch makes her way towards the center of the quidditch pitch" Lee commentated.

Madam Hooch released the bludgers and the snitch before starting her usual speech about fair play. Gaia swerved out of the way of one of the bludgers as Madam Hooch finished her speech. The golden snitch flew around Gaia's head, drawing her attention for a while before it disappeared from her sight.

"And the quaffle is released!" Lee's voice drew her attention from the tiny ball to the quaffle in the air.

Cole moved to catch the quaffle, but Gaia flipped her broom and kicked it toward Anne. Gaia shot Cole a grin before flying off after Anne.

"Eruditus kicks the ball towards Green. Ravenclaw is now in possession of the quaffle," Lee said as Gaia followed Anne closely. A Gryffindor chaser, Alicia Spinnet, blocked her way and she passed the quaffle to Gaia. "Eruditus take possession of the quaffle as Krost follows after her."

Gaia zoomed past Anne and made her way towards the goal post.

"Eruditus!" Jasmine called.

Gaia turned her head at the call and squealed in surprise as she narrowly dodged the bludger, passing the quaffle to Jasmine all the while. She made her way to the goal post while Gaia recovered her balance.

"Krost scores! That's 10 points to Ravenclaw!" Lee announced.

Nearly an hour later, the match was tight – 200 points to 190, in Gryffindor's favor.

"Johnson is in position of the quaffle! Weasley hits a bludger away from her!"

Gaia moved out of the way of the bludger, glaring at George who only smirked at her.

"Rough game, quidditch," he said before flying off.

Gaia rolled her eyes and resumed flying after Angelina. Anne was able to take the quaffle from the Gryffindor chaser and crossed the quidditch pitch. She passed it to Jasmine as the two other Gryffindor chasers block her path. Gaia sped past them and Jasmine passed the quaffle to her. Gaia aimed the quaffle at the goal post and cheered as it went through.

"Eruditus scores! Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are now tied at 200 points each!"

A ball of gold zoomed past Gaia's vision making her lurch back slightly. Not even a second later, she lost sight of the ball before seeing Joanne speed away. She must've spotted it, Gaia thought.

"Ravenclaw seeker, Prince, has spotted the snitch! Gryffindor seeker, Weasley, flies to catch up!"

Gaia stayed rooted where she was, watching as the two seekers do head to head in chasing the snitch. She flinched slightly when the two bumped into each other, both attempting to knock the other off the snitch's trail. She tensed as Charlie reached out a hand, gaining an inch more than Joanne. Suddenly, Joanne gave a small burst of speed and reached out further than Charlie, her hand enclosing around air – or so it seemed.

"Joanne Prince has caught the snitch! Ravenclaw wins!" Lee announced.

Gaia cheered and watched as the Ravenclaw students clambered down from their seats and made their way to the pitch. The team flew down to the ground and was immediately bombarded by their fellow Ravenclaws. Gaia laughed joyously as Jewel squeezed her in a hug, repeatedly saying 'You did it!'. Kaleb grinned and nearly tackled her in his excitement.

Towards her right, she watched as Charles approached Charlie and shook hands with him.

"Great game, Weasley" Charles said.

"You might've won the match, but the cup isn't yours" Charlie said with a small grin.

"Not yet" Charles corrected with a laugh.

Gaia turned and saw Fred, George, and Cole making their way towards her. She excused herself from Jewel and Kaleb, and met them halfway.

"Don't be too mad that we beat you" Gaia mocked as they reached each other.

Cole only laughed before ruffling her hair. Gaia growled slightly and swatted his hand away.

"Yeah, yeah. Great job out there though. I'm gonna go catch up with Kaleb" Cole said with a grin before jogging away.

"We may be bitter about losing," George started.

"-but you were bloody amazing" Fred grinned as he finished. Gaia laughed before pulling them into a hug.

"You two did great as well. Even though someone seemed particularly adamant in hitting me off my broom with a bludger" she said as she playfully glared at George. He raised his hands up in surrender and the three of them started walking off the pitch.

"Like I said: rough game, quidditch"

✧✧✧

Edited 09/06/2020