Of Silver and Green

Ch. 16 A Different Kind of Quidditch Practice

It had been ten minutes, and there was no sign of Brynne. Even worse, Bry was late for practice. Draco hovered a few feet off the ground on his Nimbus 2001 looking at his watch impatiently. His eyes caught sight of a green shape hurtling away from the castle towards the pitch.

Bry did a few quick laps of the pitch and then came to rest before Draco, a few feet higher. "You're late," Draco said sternly.

Bry shrugged and then swooped down, so that the ends of their brooms were practically touching. Draco squinted, trying to see the face under the hood. His face was cloaked in shadow, but Draco fancied he saw something familiar. Then, after a moment of hesitation Bry lowered the hood. Draco was so shocked he nearly fell off his broom.

"Brynne?" he sputtered as he struggled to regain his balance. She nodded grimly, her face almost a grimace it was so twisted with nervousness. Draco noticed out of the corners of his eyes that the other members of his team had closed in on them, observing with interest. "We are going to have to talk about this later," he said to her quietly. "But until then, practice will be run as usual." This last part was said more for the other player's benefit. In all reality, this really didn't change all that much for Draco. He knew his teammates wouldn't see it as a benefit, having a girl on the team. They hadn't had one since the year before Draco joined the team. At least now that he knew, Draco could work on exploiting her strengths to their fullest and developing her weaknesses.

"Now," he barked, rising to a vantage point where he was facing all six players. "This is what we're going to do. For the first half of practice, I will be working with the Beaters on a new technique. Montague, Warrington, and Rosenbaum, you three will be practicing formation work with St. Paul. For the second half of practice the Beaters will be on their own to work out the kinks. I will be taking out one Chaser every twenty minutes, which will not only force the other two to work more efficiently, but it will also help me practice. Is that clear?" They all nodded solemnly. "Alright then, if there's no questions, you four," he said, indicating the Chasers and Keeper, "go and use the right half of the pitch, and we'll work over here. With that, St. Paul, Montague, and Warrington zoomed off to the far side of the field while Rosenbaum sank down to retrieve the Quaffle and then follow.

Draco then turned to Blaise and Brynne. "I have devised the perfect technique to exploit your strengths," he told them. "Or rather, I discovered it. The Dopplebeater Defense. Do either of you recognize the term?" They both shook their heads. "You both hit the Bludger simultaneously for added power. Requires split-second timing, but I believe the two of you are capable. It will play off your strength Blaise, and your accuracy Br-Brynne." Draco had trouble calling her by her true name. He was still rather dumbstruck that his girlfriend had also been the mystery-Beater of his Quidditch team.

Draco picked up and extra Quaffle. "We'll start with this, until you get the hang of the timing involved. There's less risk of bodily harm or permanent injury." With that, Draco rose high into the air, the two Beaters trailing behind. When they reached a proper height, Draco began hurling the Quaffle at them. At first, their timing was sloppy. One would strike before the other, sending the red ball flying in all sorts of haphazard directions. They learned quickly, and it had been only twenty minutes and they were hitting the Quaffle simultaneously nine times out of ten.

When Draco had judges that their timing was adequate, he sank down and retrieved a spare bat, dropping the Quaffle. Then he released a Bludger and hit it to them. They continued in this way, passing the Bludger back and forth between them, until an hour had passed and practice was half over.

With some effort, Draco replaced the Bludger in its box so he could talk to his players. "Blaise and Brynne: I want you to sweep the entire pitch and to play as usual, but try to use the Dopplebeater Defense whenever possible. Aim for everyone. Montague: you will be the first Chaser out. Warrington: you will be second, so when I send in Montague, come to me. Rosenbaum: you're third and the same applies. The two Chasers in will have to double their efforts if they want to score on St. Paul. I want the Chasers to only use the left side of the pitch. I will be covering the whole field, as will the Chaser helping me and the Beaters also will be all over. The Beaters are practicing against us, so be wary of the Bludger. Everyone clear on what they're doing?" They nodded. "Then to it!"

Draco then released the Bludger and everyone zoomed to their positions and began to perform their respective tasks. Montague sat hovering before him. Draco handed him a large bag of golf balls. "I want you to throw these as hard and as far as you can. And keep moving as you throw. Space out your throws with about twenty seconds between. OK?" Montague nodded and they rose up into the air and began to work.

An hour passed and Draco was sweating profusely before he called his team to him. "Good practice," he told them. "I have the distinct feeling that we have a fighting chance against Gryffindor this year. Our next game is against the Gryffindors two Saturdays from now. We will be having at least six more practices before then. Does anyone have any problems with that?" he asked, eyes narrowed. The players remained silent. "Good. You're dismissed." They all turned, all except Brynne heading towards the locker room. "Except you, Brynne. I'd like a word." Blaise looked up sharply, catching Draco's eye. His hazel eyes seemed to say, 'Don't you hurt her.' Draco nodded at Blaise, who then headed to the locker room where the rest of the team had disappeared.

Slowly Brynne turned on her broom and flew to face Draco. Before she could speak, Draco began. "I think I understand why you are so secretive, though I am a little disappointed you didn't think you could tell me. I just want you to know that this doesn't change anything, except maybe my perception of you. Every time I begin to understand you, you just blow me away." He paused, looking at her. "You thought I was going to kick you off the team, didn't you?" She nodded, tears making her eyes glisten brighter than usual. "And lose one of my best players? Put the thought from your mind." He flew up next to her and drew his arm around Brynne's waist. "Why are you crying?" he asked.

"I'm just so relieved," she sobbed into his shoulder.

"You know what this means, don't you?" asked Draco, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes.

"No," she answered thickly, her shoulders still quavering slightly.

"You can use the locker room since we all know your secret," he said grinning.

Brynne stifled a giggle. "But if you don't mind, I would prefer to keep the alias for games, at least for a while."

"By all means!" Draco exclaimed. "But if you don't mind, I'm going to go get changed. Next practice, you bring your stuff to the locker room. It will help the guys get used to the idea," he added when she attempted to object.

"Fine," she replied, watching him fly to the entrance of the locker room. She turned to fly back to the castle, but just as she did, she saw a dark shape sitting in the stands. When she looked back, to see who it was, the shape was gone. Instantly, she was overcome with worry. 'How much did this person see?' she wondered, 'and how could they use it against me?' Hastily, she pulled her hood over her head and tucked the long rope of braid into her cloak. Then she turned and flew back to the castle as fast as her broom could carry her, with nary a backwards glance.