Aftermaths, Part 44

by Geri ([email protected])

Rating: Mostly PG-13, but NC-17 for overall story

Pairing: Snape/Lupin, Theodore/Blaise

Warning: AU; events that occurred at the end of Order of the Phoenix were significantly altered from the book.

Sequel to: Always, Summer Vacation, For Old Time's Sake, Three's a Crowd, Return of the Raven, Phoenix Reborn, and Phoenix Rising.

Summary: The various characters deal with the aftermath of the war, and Snape and Lupin try to build a family together with Theodore and Dylan. However, some people are unable to let go of the past...

Author's note: {} Indicates character's unspoken thoughts.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to J.K. Rowling, except Hob, who belongs to William Mayne; no money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
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Snape had his seventh-year Advanced Potions class test their Fire Shield Potions by handling hot coals and burning sticks of wood from the fireplace. The students did well for the most part, although they all looked apprehensive except for Granger and Dietrich. Snape had to admit that although the boy's attitude left much to be desired, he was a good Potions student; he had observed that Aric was always careful and meticulous while brewing his potions in class. Then again, from what Snape had heard, Durmstrang subscribed to the "sink or swim" method of teaching, so a student who was not careful risked injury or worse; while such incidents were extremely rare, Snape had heard whispered rumors of students who had suffered fatal accidents during their Dark Arts lessons. In any case, Aric confidently reached into the fireplace and held up a flaming brand with no sign of pain, smiling smugly. Granger did the same thing, with just as much confidence, if less smugness. Snape was pleased that all of his Slytherins--including his son--passed the test with flying colors, and somewhat to his surprise, so did Potter and Longbottom. Weasley, Michael Corner, and Hannah Abbott suffered minor burns, but fortunately for them, they had at least brewed their Burn-Healing Paste correctly.

"He's so mean," Susan Bones whispered as she helped Hannah smear the Paste on her hands, glaring at Snape as he loudly praised his Slytherin students and awarded points to them. "Making us stick our hands into the fire like that; what if someone had been seriously hurt?"

"Well, how else would we know if the potions work or not?" Hannah asked in a reasonable tone. "It's not so bad, really, just a couple of blisters. I'm fine, honestly. It's my own fault; I must have made a mistake when I was brewing the potion."

"Yes, Miss Abbott," Snape said, suddenly gliding over to their desks and startling both girls. "You did not let the vervain and alder bark boil and steep long enough before adding the saxifrage roots, which lessened the efficacy of your potion. Fortunately, you did a better job on your Burn-Healing Paste. And just to inform you, Miss Bones--" He glared at Susan. "--there is nothing wrong with my hearing. Five points off Hufflepuff for your insolence." Susan flushed and bit her lower lip as the Slytherins snickered, obviously fighting the urge to make a retort that would only cost her House more points. At least the Hufflepuffs were a bit more sensible than the Gryffindors, Snape mused to himself. He finished awarding points to his Slytherins, and grudgingly awarded five points to Miss Granger, scowling at her as she smiled at him warmly. "Class dismissed," he said curtly.
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"I still think he's mean," Susan complained as they left the dungeon. "And unfair, too! He only gives points to the Slytherins no matter how well the rest of us do on our potions."

"And to Hermione," Justin pointed out with a smile.

"That's because she's Dylan's girlfriend," Pansy giggled.

"It's blatant favoritism," Michael complained. Then as Harry and Ron glared at him, hastily added, "Er...no offense, Hermione. It's not like you don't deserve the points, but it's true that Snape only rewards the students that he favors."

Hannah shrugged. "That's Snape. He's always been like that."

"You're all such whiners," Aric sneered. "Snape isn't fair; so what? The world isn't fair, and only a fool would expect it to be."

"I don't recall anyone asking you for your opinion, Dietrich," Michael snapped.

Aric just smirked. "That's all right; I'm giving it free of charge." The other Slytherins laughed, except for Theodore and Blaise, who watched him warily.

"I hate to say it," Draco said, "but Dietrich has a point. Fairness is a Gryffindor notion."

"It's not solely a Gryffindor notion," Susan said pointedly. "It would be more accurate to say that Slytherin is the only House without a sense of fair play."

"I thought all this House rivalry would end with the war," Lisa Turpin interjected quietly, and some of the students began to look a little ashamed.

"Get real, Turpin!" Draco said, although he looked somewhat abashed himself. "You're not going to change a thousand-year tradition overnight!"

"I did think that Snape might change a little after the war, though," Lisa continued, ignoring Draco. "Now that he doesn't have to pretend to be a Death Eater anymore."

"But he has changed, a little," Neville pointed out timidly. "He's openly living with Professor Lupin, and that would never have happened before the war."

"True," Lisa acknowledged.

"I think," Hermione said thoughtfully, "that he keeps up his old image out of habit, because he'd be embarrassed if people started thinking he was nice."

"No fear of that," Ron snorted derisively.

"Allegra thinks he's nice," Hermione reminded him.

Ron snorted again, and Blaise glared at him for a moment, then sighed, "I hate to admit it, but perhaps my sister isn't really the best judge of character...I mean, I think Snape is all right; he's done a lot for us Slytherins, but 'nice' might be stretching it a bit..."

Harry had remained silent throughout the argument, thinking about the times that Snape had unfairly singled him out for detention or humiliation, as well as the times that he had seen a different side to Snape: Snape healing Sirius after the battle with the Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic; Lupin kissing Snape in front of everyone at the head table in the Great hall; Dylan hugging an embarrassed Snape at his and Theodore's birthday party; and Snape quietly playing chess with Theodore in the drawing room at Grimmauld Place while Lupin smiled at them affectionately.

"I wouldn't exactly call Snape nice," Harry finally said, and everyone turned to look at him expectantly; most of the other students seemed to give Harry's words added weight since he had become "the savior of the wizarding world," which made him rather uncomfortable. "But he isn't a Death Eater. He helped defeat Voldemort, and that's what really matters. I can live with him being unfair and only giving points to Slytherin." He suddenly grinned, feeling lighthearted. "At least we're alive to complain about it!"

"That's looking on the bright side, Harry!" Neville laughed, and Hermione smiled approvingly.

"You Gryffindors are always so disgustingly optimistic," Draco said scornfully, but he seemed to be fighting back a smile.

"And anyway," Millicent added, "Snape's not the only teacher who plays favorites!"

The group of students continued on, still arguing about teachers and favoritism, but in a much more good-natured manner.
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After lunch, the seventh-year Gryffindors and Slytherins had Incantations and Summonings. Aric thought Professor Blackmore was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but in spite of that, he was not the slightest bit attracted to her. His old Potions Master at Durmstrang had been a herpetologist who kept a number of poisonous snakes as pets in his laboratory, and Blackmore reminded him of the Potions Master's prized possession, a magnificent king cobra: beautiful, but in a cold and deadly way. Her eyes, like the snake's, were filled with an arrogant indifference that seemed to say, "I could kill you anytime I wish; you are simply not important enough for me to bother with." Which was fine with Aric; he definitely wanted to stay beneath Blackmore's notice, and was careful to be quiet and polite in her class. Even though some of his other teachers were dangerous, such as Bleddri and Snape, he sensed that he had a little leeway with them--not much, but at least a little; they would tolerate a small amount of rudeness and insolence before they tried to harm him or have him expelled. One look at Blackmore told him that he would have no such leeway with her. Before coming to Hogwarts, Aric had laughed at his parents' stories about Professor Blackmore's demonic blood, but now that he had actually met her, they no longer seemed so funny. He heard that she had recently married Sirius Black, and he wondered if the man was incredibly brave or incredibly foolish. Well, Black was a Gryffindor, so the answer was probably both.

Today Blackmore was lecturing them on para-elementals. "They are a subspecies, a kind of combination between two of the four types of true elementals. The creature called Soot that Professor Lupin used to help you with your Patronus Charms last year was a smoke elemental, a combination of fire and air, and you may recall that I summoned an ice elemental to help with the Christmas decorations last year. And that would be a union of what two elements...?" Granger's hand immediately shot up into the air, and Blackmore actually smiled a little. "Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Air and water, Professor."

"Very good, Miss Granger," Blackmore said approvingly. "Can anyone name any other types of para-elementals?" To Aric's surprise--and apparently Blackmore's too, because she raised her eyebrows a little--Crabbe and Goyle raised their hands. "Mr. Goyle."

"Mud elementals," Goyle said proudly.

"A combination of earth and water," Crabbe added.

Blackmore laughed out loud, and she no longer looked quite so cold and scary. "Yes," she said, with a mischievous little twinkle in her eyes, "I suppose you would be familiar with mud elementals, since your fathers had firsthand experience with them--and with scrubbing mud off the dungeon walls with toothbrushes. Very good, Mr. Goyle, Mr. Crabbe." The two boys beamed at her. "Anyone else?"

More hands rose into the air, and she called on Malfoy next. "Dust elementals--air and earth."

"Correct, Mr. Malfoy," Blackmore said, then looked at the hands still raised in the air. "Mr. Snape?" Aric noted with mild interest that she never stumbled or hesitated over Theodore's new name the way most of the other teachers, including Snape himself, did.

"Lava elementals are made up of earth and fire," Theodore replied promptly.

"Very good, Mr. Snape. Anyone else? There is one species of para-elementals left that you have not yet named." The students hesitated, and Blackmore continued, "Think upon the combinations that have already been named: fire/air, water/air, earth/water, earth/air, earth/fire. There is only one combination left."

"Fire/water," Potter said. "But how could they combine? They're opposites; wouldn't they cancel each other out?"

Granger's hand shot up again, and for the first time, Aric raised his; he'd been keeping a low profile in Blackmore's class, but he couldn't stand to be outdone by his cousin or a Gryffindor girl.

"Yes, Mr. Dietrich."

Aric was not actually familiar with para-elementals, since Summonings classes in Durmstrang concentrated mainly on how to summon Dark Creatures, not elementals, but there was only one logical answer. "Steam elementals," he said confidently, hoping that he was right and wasn't making a fool of himself.

"Very good, Mr. Dietrich," Blackmore said approvingly, and Potter shook his head with a "damn, that should have been obvious" expression on his face. Theodore gave Aric a sullen look, and Aric felt quite pleased with himself. His pleasure was short-lived, however.

"Your next assignment will be to summon a para-elemental," Blackmore said. "You will have three weeks to research the proper incantations, runes, and spell components before you make your presentation. Keep in mind that para-elementals are harder to summon, and more difficult to control once they are summoned, than a true elemental. You may choose which type of elemental you wish to summon, but you are limited to smoke, mud, dust, or ice elementals. The school governors have deemed lava and steam elementals too dangerous for the students to handle." Blackmore looked as though she disagreed with that decision, but said nothing to contradict the edict. "You will work with the same partners as last year." There were a few stifled groans which were quickly silenced when Blackmore glared at the offenders. "Of course we have two students who were not here last term. Let's see..." Blackmore stared at Daphne Greengrass and Aric thoughtfully for a moment. "Potter, Weasley, Malfoy--your group has only three members while the others have four, so Miss Greengrass and Mr. Dietrich can join your group."

Greengrass gave all four boys a nervous look, but said nothing. Draco scowled a little, but likewise remained silent. Weasley groaned softly and muttered, "As if Malfoy wasn't bad enough..."

"Do you have any objections, Mr. Weasley?" Blackmore asked in an icy voice, giving him that cobra-like stare which was no longer indifferent. The Professor's raven also gave him a menacing look.

"No, ma'am!" Weasley squeaked, turning pale.

"Very well, I'll dismiss you early so that you can head to the library. For those of you not familiar with para-elementals, you may wish to do some research on the various species before you decide which one you want to summon. I will expect you to inform me on Monday as to what type of elemental you've chosen, which will give you the weekend to reach your decision. Class dismissed."

"This really sucks," Weasley complained as they left the classroom.

"Oh, quit whining, Weasley," Aric sneered. "It's not like I'm any happier about it than you are."

"You're Nott's cousin, aren't you?" Weasley grumbled. "Why couldn't she put you in his group?"

"Maybe because she didn't want them to kill each other," Draco said dryly. "And his name is Snape now, not Nott."

Weasley suddenly laughed. "Hey, that's sort of like a pun: not, Nott. Get it?"

"Your Gryffindor wit astounds me," Aric said sarcastically.

Weasley opened his mouth to make a retort, but Potter cut him off. "Knock it off, you two," he said irritably. "I don't like this, either, but we haven't got a choice. Crossing Professor Blackmore is a bad idea." He shuddered a little. "A really, REALLY bad idea!"

"Yeah, I got that impression," Aric reluctantly agreed, then curiously asked, "So what did you do to run afoul of her?" Because it definitely seemed like Potter was speaking from personal experience.

Potter shuddered again. "It's a long story, and I'd rather not talk about it. Let's just say that you should never mess with her familiar."

Meanwhile, Greengrass trailed behind them so quietly that Aric almost forgot she was there. When they reached the library, Potter blinked in surprise, as if he'd forgotten about her, too. "Er...Daphne, right?" he said hesitantly. "I don't remember seeing you in Incantations last year."

"I was out sick most of the year," she replied quietly.

"So do you have any preference about what sort of elemental we should summon?" Potter asked.

Greengrass shook her head. "No, I have no experience with Summoning spells, so whatever the rest of you decide is fine," she said meekly.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Potter asked. "Draco, Ron--any ideas?"

"I don't know anything about para-elementals," Weasley said.

"Well, fire and air elementals are always the hardest to control," Malfoy said, frowning thoughtfully. "They're the most mercurial and capricious of the elementals. Water can be kind of temperamental, too, though not as bad as air and fire. Earth elementals are the most stable, and the easiest to summon and control. So a mud elemental would probably be the easiest to summon, and a smoke elemental the hardest."

"Let's go with mud, then," Weasley said.

"But won't we get more points for summoning a more difficult elemental?" Aric objected, partly just to be contrary, but also because he preferred a challenging assignment to an easy one.

"He has a point," Malfoy admitted reluctantly. "I have my grades to think of, even if you don't care about yours, Weasley. Besides, we handled that air elemental okay last year."

"So what do you want to summon, then, Malfoy?" Potter asked.

"A smoke elemental," he replied. "Blackmore will give us the most credit for that."

"Only if we're successful," Weasley said pointedly.

"Well, Weasley," Malfoy drawled in a condescending tone, "if you don't think you're up to it, that's understandable, considering that you're a Gryffindor..."

"What?" snapped Weasley, scowling at Malfoy. "You don't think I can handle it?"

"You're right," Malfoy said in a soothing tone. "We should probably stick to a mud elemental. Wouldn't want to overtax you, after all..."

"I can handle anything you can, Malfoy!" Weasley said hotly. "Fine, let's summon a smoke elemental!"

Malfoy smirked, and Potter sighed and shook his head, looking torn between annoyance and amusement, but all he said was, "All right, then, it's settled. Let's get started on the research."

"So who appointed you boss?" Aric sneered.

Weasley and Malfoy, for once united in their dislike of Aric, glared at him and clenched their fists, but Potter took a deep breath, then said calmly, "Look, Dietrich, neither of us wants to work together, but we're stuck with each other. The sooner we get the work done, the less time we'll have to spend together." Aric scowled, but Potter was right, so he grudgingly nodded.

"Let's divide up the research like we did the last time," Malfoy suggested, still glaring at Aric. "Then we can work on our own and get back together once each of us is done with our individual task."

"Good idea, Malfoy," Potter said approvingly, and Aric was a little taken aback to see a Gryffindor and Slytherin cooperating; well, perhaps he had served as a common enemy to unite against. After a little debate, it was decided that Potter and Weasley would research the protective circle and runes, and that Malfoy would handle the summoning incantation while Aric worked on the incantation to control the para-elemental. Surprisingly, the timid Greengrass girl volunteered to research and gather the material components for the spell without being asked. Aric was tempted to argue about the division of chores, again just to be difficult, but decided that he'd had his fill of hanging around with the Gryffindors and that arrogant twit Malfoy, who often tended to forget that he was no longer a big shot now that his father was dead and disgraced, although Aric took great pleasure in reminding him of it. But suddenly Aric felt tired of fighting and just wanted to be alone; being on his guard all the time, always keeping up that aggressive front and watching to see if Theo or the other Slytherins were going to retaliate against him, was proving to be exhausting. So he just nodded, found the books he needed, and quickly checked them out and took them back to his dorm room. Because there were an uneven number of new male students, or perhaps because Snape didn't trust him and was afraid he might harm his roommate, Aric had been given a room of his own instead of having to share one as most of the other students did. Then again, there did seem to be a few spare rooms to go around, at least in the boys' dorm, and he assumed it was the same in the girls' dorm. The number of pureblooded students had begun to decline in recent years, and since Slytherins were almost always purebloods, the number of new Slytherin students was slightly less than that of the other Houses, who presumably weren't so picky. At first Aric had been pleased to have a room of his own; it meant that he didn't have to put up with an annoying roommate, and more importantly, because he'd made enemies of most his housemates by insulting Theodore, Dylan, Snape, and Snape's pet werewolf, he didn't have to worry about a roommate hexing him or tampering with his things. But now, as he stacked the library books neatly on his desk, it made him feel even more isolated from the rest of his House. Maybe he'd made a mistake by coming on so strong; it would have been nice to have at least one friend. He should have been more subtle and ingratiated himself with the other Slytherins before gradually manipulating them into turning against Theodore with a few carefully worded rumors and innuendoes.

Aric sighed. His teachers at Durmstrang had praised his academic skills, but often chided him for being too hotheaded and acting without thinking. Uncle Rafe had once said much the same thing. "Subtle you are not, Aric," Rafe had chuckled, patting Aric on the head fondly as he held a handkerchief to his nose to staunch the bleeding after he had gotten into a fistfight with one of his playmates. "I'm afraid you take after me."

Aric felt tears sting his eyes, and quickly shook off his melancholy mood and headed to his next class; he didn't have time to sit around feeling sorry for himself. Fortunately, his next class was Physical Defense, and a good workout helped him to take his mind off of things. He was even able to score a solid hit with his wooden sword on Potter's ribs. From the way Potter yelped in pain, and the way he winced and rubbed the spot after the bout was over, Aric had definitely left behind some bruises.

"Let's go get some hyssop leaves from Professor Sprout after class," Potter muttered to Weasley.

Master Bleddri had watched Aric with a puzzled, almost suspicious look on his face during the entire period, but all he said was, "You certainly showed great enthusiasm and effort today, Mr. Dietrich. Five points to Slytherin."

After classes were over for the day, Aric headed to the Quidditch Pitch to watch the tryouts for the Slytherin team. He took a seat alone in the stands, but there were small clumps of students sitting together here and there in the Slytherin section, and Snape sat with Lupin up at the very top of the stands. Aric sighed wistfully; he would have liked to try out for the team himself, but there was no point to it, since he had antagonized Malfoy, the team Captain, so badly. No doubt Malfoy would take great pleasure in turning him down no matter how well he performed, and Aric wished once again that he had been more subtle in pursuing his revenge against Theodore. Oh well, live and learn. He would tone down his hostile act and work on winning over his housemates. He knew that Theo's closest friends would never accept him, but surely there were some students that Theo and especially Malfoy must have offended in the past, children from lower-ranking families who had resented having to grovel and cater to the Death Eater families. And Aric was well aware of his good looks, and had noticed the admiring glances some of the girls cast his way, like Yvonne Deveraux. She was a bit of an airhead, but she was pretty and popular, and could help him get accepted, at least by the younger students. And once he started behaving himself and fitting in with his peers, perhaps Theo and Snape might relax their guard a little...
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Meanwhile, Theodore was having a bad day. He and Blaise were stuck working with Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan again on their Incantations project, and once they were out of Blackmore's classroom and safely in the library, Dean began complaining to Theodore about how "your dad nearly burned my girlfriend's friend's hand off! And Susan got points taken off for standing up for Hannah!"

It took Theodore a few moments to realize that he was talking about the testing of the Fire Shield Potions in Snape's class; he must have talked to Susan between classes. "Oh for Merlin's sake!" Theodore said disgustedly. "It was just a few blisters, and the Burn-Healing Paste took care of that. Besides, if Abbott had brewed her potion properly, she wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place!"

"It's still not right," Dean insisted, "that Snape should put students in danger!"

"No one has ever been seriously injured in Snape's classes," Blaise said mildly. "And besides, if Hannah didn't have a problem with it, there's no reason for you to be getting so worked up about it."

Dean scowled at Blaise, and Theodore snapped, "You aren't even in our Potions class, so mind your own business, Thomas!" Which set Dean off again, escalating their argument as Blaise and Seamus tried to hush them, until Madam Pince came over to scold them and take five points off both Gryffindor and Slytherin.

"What's the matter with you, mate?" Seamus asked his friend, giving him a puzzled look. "The war's over, you know."

"Don't let him bait you like that, Theo," Blaise gently scolded. "Professor Snape will be upset if we lose points for Slytherin, and besides, you don't want to get detention with the tryouts coming up this afternoon."

And then there was Physical Defense, which was Theodore's least favorite class after Care of Magical Creatures. Not that he disliked Master Bleddri, but he did dislike the physical combat and the bruises that inevitably came along with it. Still, he wanted to keep his grades up, and more importantly, he knew that Bleddri would probably report on his progress to Lupin, whom he didn't want to disappoint, so Theodore still gave the class his best effort.

But Bleddri noticed his lack of enthusiasm. "Cheer up, Nott...sorry, Snape," the werewolf said heartily, slapping him on the back, causing Theodore to stagger a little; Bleddri was much stronger than he looked. "Remus says you're trying out for the Quidditch team, and an athlete needs to be fit. The workout you're getting here will benefit you on the Quidditch Pitch, trust me. A Chaser needs strong arm and leg muscles, and quick reflexes." Without warning, the werewolf threw a blow his way, and thanks to his lessons from both Bleddri and Karasu, Theodore automatically raised his arm to block it. "Good work!" Bleddri said with a grin, slapping him on the back again; this time Theodore was prepared for it, and braced himself.

Well, at least the lessons were paying off, and the werewolf's praise did cheer him up a bit. But it irked Theodore that his cousin, who was new to these lessons, was already doing better than him, at least with the weapons-work, and Aric was rapidly catching up in the hand-to-hand combat as well. Aric was such a typical pureblood snob; who would've figured that he'd be good at physical combat? Though of course Aric had only taken up fencing because Rafe had done it, and they had both idolized their uncle. Theodore hadn't been aware that Aric had taken up fencing; he had never even considered doing so himself because he knew that his father would never have permitted it. Thaddeus Nott had believed that only Muggles needed to bother with things like swordplay, because it cast doubt on a wizard's ability if he needed any weapon other than magic to defend himself.

Theodore's final class of the day was Divination, which was, as usual, a complete waste of time. Professor Trelawney laid out tarot cards and--again, as usual--predicted dire futures for all of her students.

"I see death in your past and death in your future," Trelawney intoned dramatically as she read Theodore's fortune, and Lavender and Parvati gasped fearfully. Theodore wanted to continue getting good grades in this class, so he just nodded respectfully, but inside he was thinking to himself in annoyance that although the two Gryffindor girls were pretty, they must not be very bright if they hadn't figured out by now that Trelawney was a fraud. He knew that Damien liked them, and he wasn't sure he wanted his friend dating anyone that stupid.

When she laid out the cards for Aric, her eyes glazed over a little and she said, "I see great turmoil in your future; you will be faced with a life-altering decision, and the choice you make will determine whether you live or die." Aric rolled his eyes, but Trelawney didn't seem to notice, and continued predicting death, danger, and disaster for each of the students, departing unexpectedly from this pattern only once, for Parvati. She smiled knowingly and clasped Parvati's hands between her own. "I see love and romance in your future, my dear!" Parvati squealed happily, and Lavender, Pansy, and Millicent clustered around her, speculating on who Parvati's love interest would be.

"Of course there's death in my past," Theodore grumbled as they left the classroom. "Everyone knows that my parents are dead! And as for death in my future, everyone knows that my adopted grandfather is dying, thanks to that Howler Lady Selima sent to Snape--I don't need a Seer to tell me that!"

Dylan, who was waiting for him in the hallway, laughed. "Never mind, Theo; it's easy marks--all you have to do is nod and agree with her, and she'll give you a good grade. By the way, I had Divination in the morning, and she told me that I would face great danger. Think I should watch out for Bludgers on the Pitch?" Theodore rolled his eyes, and Dylan laughed again. "Come on, we've got to get our brooms and head to the Pitch."

"Good luck, Theo," Blaise said, throwing an arm around his shoulder and giving him a quick hug. "I'll be cheering you on from the stands; I promised to take Allegra to watch the tryouts."

Theodore felt a little less grumpy as he walked onto the Pitch. He was excited to be joining the Quidditch team, and his mood continued to improve when he looked up into the stands and saw Blaise and Allegra grin and wave at him. Surprisingly, Hermione and three of Allegra's Gryffindor yearmates were sitting with them, along with Lavender, Parvati, Pansy and her brother Patrick, Miriam Baddock, and Slaine Kendrick. Even more surprisingly, they all seemed to be chatting in a friendly manner and getting along with each other. Lupin and Snape were sitting together at the top of the stands, and Lupin cheerfully waved at him. Theodore waved back, then to his shock, saw Aric sitting by himself in the stands. He wondered what Aric was doing here; although his cousin was a Quidditch fan, he had made it clear that he considered everyone in Slytherin beneath him. Theodore hastily cast an Aperio spell on his broom, and checked it carefully for hexes, but found no enchantment on it other than the one that made it fly.

"What are you doing, Theo?" Dylan asked.

"Just checking for hexes," Theodore replied. "Aric is in the stands, and I wouldn't put it past him to put a hurling hex on my broomstick."

"He might," Dylan said skeptically, "but he doesn't have access to your broom; you keep it locked up in your room when you aren't using it."

"I just couldn't figure out why he would be here except to laugh when I fall off my broomstick."

"Well, it looks safe enough," Dylan said.

"Rosier! Nott--uh, Theo!" Draco called. "Get a move on, we haven't got all day!"

So Theodore shrugged and joined the rest of the team and aspiring team members. A number of boys had come to try out for the team--and one girl. Millicent Bulstrode strode onto the field carrying her broomstick; she had changed out of her skirt into more practical trousers beneath her robe.

"Millicent?" Draco asked, his eyes going wide and round with surprise. "Er...what are you doing here?"

"What does it look like, Draco?" Millicent replied impatiently. "I'm trying out for the team. For the position of Keeper, specifically."

"Um...ah..." Draco stammered, "but you're a girl."

"So glad you noticed, Malfoy," Millicent said sarcastically.

"But...but..."

"There's no rule against it," Dylan said reasonably. "All the other teams have girls."

"But...um...ah..." Draco continued to stutter, still looking flabbergasted. "Aren't you, um, well...worried about your reputation?"

"No," Millicent replied calmly, "because I'm practically engaged to Miles, and he approves. In fact, he worked with me over the summer, teaching me some moves."

"I'll bet he did," Damien said with a suggestive grin, then shouted, "Ow!" as Millicent whacked him hard on the shoulder.

"Quidditch moves," she clarified in a pointed voice. Then she grinned slyly. "As for what else he might have taught me, that's none of your business." Damien laughed good-naturedly as he rubbed his shoulder.

Draco hesitated, but could find no other reason to object, and said, "Okay then, let's get started."

 

Part 45