April was hungry, and late for dinner as usual. She ran down the stairs, skipping a few by jumping over them. She landed on the marble floor and skidded into the Great Hall. She looked over the tables, noticing there were still a few people eating. She had as long as she wanted, she knew, but hated eating alone.

She headed over to the Slytherin Table, looking for someone to sit with. There was only one girl there, and April didn't know her. She groaned, realizing she didn't have any friends to sit with. Oh well, time to make new friends.

She slid into the seat across from the girl, who seemed to be bored and only eating a little bit. April piled her plate with chicken and potatoes and ate a bite before saying anything. Then she looked up and smiled helpfully.

"Hey," she said casually.

Carly had been eating alone. She had been flying around the pitch a little bit. She really wasn't planning on eating, but she figured if she didn't eat and kept flying around the way she was, she might run out of energy quick.

By the time she had gotten to the Great Hall, most people were gone. She didn't see anyone that she wanted to sit with, so grabbed a seat alone and began to eat. She just wanted to be outside on her broom, but knew she couldn't. She was daydreaming.

"Hey,"

This scared Carly a little bit, forcing her to come back to reality. She looked up to see a girl she didn't know. "Hey.." She was a little confused, seeing as how she had been in her own little world up until then.

The girl responded slow;ly, as if she was forced to come out of a darawar place or something. April figured she had been daydreaming, since she had a glazed over look in her eyes. She seemed tired and hungry, and a little worn out. She wondered what she had been doing.

"You okay in there?" she asked, laughing, before eating a peice of chicken. "You look pretty tired. Whatcha been doing?"

April realized she was being nosy again. She looked away, at the other tables of chatting students, before making eye contact again with the girl, who seemed a little confused.

Carly finally came to her senses. She realized she had probably looked like an idiot. She laughed at herself. "Yeah, sorry."

She looked at the girl who was eating her chicken. She has seen her around before, but wasn't sure of who she was. Carly took a bite from an apple. "I've just been flying around the pitch a little bit. Wish i was still there." She smiled. "I'm Carly."

"It's okay," she assured the girl, finishing her peice of chicken. She took a slice of apple pie and dug into it hungrily. She loved apples. The girl was also eating an apple. Those looked good too. She grabbed one for later and pocketed it.

"I've just been flying around the pitch a little bit. Wish i was still there. I'm Carly," the girl said, smiling at April. April smiled in return, realizing she had seen Carly around somewhere.

"I've definately seen you around here. I'm April. You fly? Do you play quidditch any? We're looking for players for the Slytherin team... I play Seeker."

Carly watched as the girl kept grabbing food. She even shoved an apple in her pocket. She found it funny. The girl was skinny, but she could eat.

"Yeah, i've been flying my whole life. Grew up playing with my dad and two brothers." She took another bite of her apple, chewing it before she talked again. "I've always wanted to play for the house team, but never found the time. I think i'm gonna go for it this year though."

Carly knew she couldn't wait for this. She could only hope she would make it. She knew the house teams didn't favor female beaters. "I'm a beater." She smirked. She was always proud of that. Not many girls could be a beater, and a good one at that. She was lucky.

April almost choked on her pie when CArly said she was a beater. She hardly knew any girl beaters, but the ones she did know were very good. They had to be to beat out even the smallest boys. Most girls didn't have it in them. Hopefully, CArly truly was good and thier team would be on top form.

"Beater? Really? Well, you must be pretty good then, since not a lot of girls can work out being Beaters. Lucky us," she said, shoving the rest of the pie in her mouth and swallowing.

"You'll definately have to try out. Maybe later we could fly down together at the pitch and you could practice on me... but I warn you, I'm a good flier."

When April almost choked, Carly gave her a strange look. She didn't think it was that big of a deal. "Well i don't like to brag, but i've been known to show a few boys how it's done." She smirked. She didn't want to sound conceited. She knew she hated when people were cocky. She was only being truthful.

Carly liked her offer. She hasn't flown with someone else in a while. She wanted to for a change. "Sounds good. Don't worry, so am I. Atleast then i'll have some competition." She smiled.

April drank a whole goblet of pumpkin juice before responding. She was excited at having a beater to fly with, since she hadn't practiced with bludgers in quite a long time. She was actually thinking of trying out for the captain's position.

"Competetion is good. I need a beater to practice with actually. Don't want to get rusty with dodging," she said, pushing her plate away from her, She had eaten disgustingly fast, she realized.

"What broom do you ride?"

Carly couldn't help but be amused at how quickly April had eaten. "Well, i'm your girl then. And if you're thinking now that i may not be as good as most boys, you'll be thinking differently when we're done." She kept talking herself up. She didn't mean to. She just loved to talk about the thing she was best at in life.

"I've got a Firebolt." She smiled. She loved that broom more than anything. She's had it for a few years now. She had just had it made more advanced. She loved that her dad worked with brooms. "What about you?

April was happy that Carly seemed excited at the propsect of playing quidditch with her. It would make April's like as a Seeker more interesting, as they didn't hae practices or anything yet. She was ready for those too. She was thinking of going flying later, actually.

"Totally, I'm ready to show you up."

"And I've got a Firebolt too, actually. Daddy likes to buy me nice things," she said, shrugging. "I sort of want something new, but there's nothing better out therw!" she said sheepishly.

"When d'you wanna go out?" she asked casually.

Aprils comment sounded cocky, but it made her laugh. She loved the challenge. A seeker against a beater. It should be an interesting time. She was already starting to like her new friend.

"I really don't know if i'd want something new. It would be nice, but i'm so attached to my Firebolt." Carly pushed her plate aside and smiled. "My dad works with brooms, making them and fixing them. So i'm pretty lucky with that."

She shrugged. "We can go whenever you're ready."

April stood up. She could see tat her and Carly would get along just fine for Slytherins, so that was always good. A good eahlthy competition would be good for both of them, she felt. Both of the girls had big egos, and big shoes to fill now.

"Ready to break into the shed to get the balls?" she asked, laughing. She walked away from the table and out onto the sloping laws of Hogwarts.

"So, what year are you in?" she asked as they headed to the pitch.

Carly laughed with April as she followed her out. She was excited to get back on her broom. It had only been about 30 minutes, but she felt like it was a lifetime. It was getting dark too. That was her favorite time to practice. It made her concentrate more on hitting the bludger. That made her better in the daytime.

"6th." She shook her head. "I can't believe i've waited this long to want to try out for the team. What about you?"

April nodded her head. It was weird that she had never met Carly before, since they were in the same year, but then again, April was hardly ever in the dorms or common room. Besides, she had switched her dorm so she could room with Robyn, so that may be why also.

"6th as well. I just came here last year, and I got the Seeker position right away. I was pretty excited." She didn't mention that she had beat out another player for it; since she didn't want to brag.

"You can sign up in the Slytherin Common Room, I don't think we have any potential beaters so you'll get the spot."

"So you must be pretty good then." Carly was glad to have someone to practice with now, and someone that was good.

"I'll sign up when i get back there." She thought about it. No potential beaters? That kind of made her mad. She hated just being handed a spot. She wanted competition. She wanted someone to try and show her up.

Carly kind of got lost in her thoughts again. She had a tendancy to do that.

"Sounds good to me," she replied, finally reaching the little cabin on the edge of the Quidditch pitch. Carly stood beside her, and April tried the door. Locked. April had been expecting that.

"Alohamora," she said, pointing her wand at the lock. It clicked open and April pushed open the door, sliding inside. She grabbed a crate of balls and heaved it out the door, closing it. She didn't know a spell to lock it back up, but no matter. It was easy enough to open whether or not it was locked.

"Help me with this," she said, grunting. It was pretty heavy, and the two girls lugged it over to the very middle of the Quidditch pitch, which was deserted.

"All good... just for... Accio Firebolt!" she screamed, pointing her wand directly at the school.It took a few moments, but her broom came rocketing out of a window and parked itself right up next to April.

"Perfect," she muttered.

After lugging the crate onto the pitch, Carly looked around and smiled. It was perfect out. And nobody else was there to get in there way. She was happy.

She then too retrieved her broom. Perfect was right. Their brooms were something everyone has seen, but no one really knew it's true potential unless somebody good was on it. Carly knew what she was doing with it, and she had a feeling April did too.

Carly then opened the crate. She was happy to see a bludger. She hasn't practiced with a real one in a few weeks. She just hoped she didn't lose her touch.

Carly had opened up the crate. April peered into it, seeing the shaking bludgers. She grabbed the snitch out of its compartment, letting it go. She might as well make it seem as real as possible, for good times sake. She watched it fly off into the distance, and then looked back at Carly.

"Alright, we're all set. Use one bludgers, we'll lose the other one or it'll kill us both," she suggested. She mounted her broom, kicking off from the hard Earth. She saw Carly release the bludger. It rocketed immediately towards her.

April Sloth Grip Rolled out of the way, laughing. She could hear it overshoot her and fly off around the pitch. CArly had a cbat in her hand now.

"Let's get going!" April said, and flew off at high speed towards the opposite edge of the pitch. The bludger was nowhere near her, and April felt safe for the time being. She looked around for the snitch, which was definately out of sight too.

Carly watched as April took off. She let go of the bludger, she was so happy to see it in the air. It was going towards April. Carly then mounted her broom and kicked off the ground, flying fast towards the bludger, bat in hand.

April had moved out of the way of the bludger. Carly smirked and April flew quickly to the other side of the pitch. Carly followed her, but stopped halfway. The bludger had then been approaching her. She kept her eye on it and a tight grip on her broom. She flew lower, and as the bludger approached, flew up and slammed it away.

Just as she did that, Carly saw the snitch fly past her. She smiled, but noticed the bludger heading quickly at April, who was turned the opposite way. She wasn't about to let her new friend get hurt. She sped quickly behind the bludger.

April was turned in the opposite direction, but she could hear the buzzing of the bludger behind her. She could also hear Carly flying, the whooshing noise of the Firebolt, getting closer. April expected CArly to save her here, but she didn't need help. Just as the bludger was about to hit her, April anticipated its' movement and dove straight down in a spiral. The bludger missed the tail end of her broom by centimeters.

She laughed out loud making a long whooping noise. She turned back to face cArly and caught a glint of gold, which disapeared as quickly as it had appeared. She growled and sped off, whizzing past Carly, searching for the snitch. But it was gone.

"Damn your bludger, Carly, if we lose this snitch you're a dead woman!" she called out, smirking.

Carly was coming close to the bludger as it was getting closer to April. She almost caught up to it, but just before she could stop it from hitting April, April dove down and the bludger barely missed her. Carly then hit the bludger hard, sending it in the opposite direction of the girls. Carly sighed and laughed a little.

She saw April fly off, following the snitch. She heard her call out. Her comment made Carly laughed. She loved when her bludgers caused problems. That meant she was doing her job. Carly then flew off after April.

"If we lose the snitch, that obviously means someone wasn't doing their job!" Carly shouted, catching up to April. She laughed, swooping down and doing a small flip with her broom.

April laughed, smirking back and stopped in midair. She watched Carly do a little flip with the Firebolt, an amused expression on her face. The bludger was flying around on the other side of the pitch, too bulky to catch up to either of the girls, which April was thankful for. She searched around for the snitch.

"That's a good point," April offered. "We'll definately need you to do your job on the team. Good beaters are hard to come by," she said, knowing it was true. Having a bad beater did nothing but harm the team, but a good beater could be the difference between a loss and a win.

April turned around in time to see the bludger coming at her from below, and she barrel rolled over it, watching it fly right past her and into the sky.

"Do your thing Carly," she suggested, cackling loudly and shooting off to find the snitch again. She couldn't catch the glint of gold anywhere, although she should be trying a lot harder than she was. She started concentrating.

Carly smiled when April said good beaters were hard to come by. She normally didn't care what people thought, but when it came to Quidditch she took everything to heart.

When April turned, Carly also turned to see what she was looking at. The bludger was back for more. She stared hard at it, smirking. "Do your thing Carly."

With this, Carly flew right at it. She was prepared to knock it far. She had such an adrenaline rush. She loved that feeling. It was so amazing. She hit it and watched as it starting speeding away from her. She stopped and stared, smiling. The bludger suddenly stopped and fell to the ground.

She was confused at first, but then realized it was probably someone stopping their mini game. She was only hoping it wasn't a professor. They would not be happy with this. Carly looked around.

April was looking for the snitch when she noticed it went oddly quiet around the pitch, not that anybody had been talking. But the sounds of flying and the bludger's bulky movements had stopped. April whipped her head around. CArly was floating in midair, staring at the bludger, which was on the ground.

"What the hell?" April said, cocking herhead to the side. She flew to Carly's side, looking down at the motionless bludger.

"What is it... doing?" April asked. She flew down to the ground, hovering a few inches off the ground. She learned over her handle, balancing delicately, and poked the bludger with her finger. It didn't move.

Then, out of nowhere, it shot at her face.

"F--K!" she screamed, toppling over out of the way. It barraelled at her again, and she was lying on the ground, trying to move out of the way. It came down and tried to smash her face, but she managed to sort of flip over it, diving for her broom.

"CRAZY BLUDGER!" she yelled, scrambling onto her broom. The bludger came close to her again and kicked out with her foot, catching it off gaurd and sending it spinning wildy towards the bludgers. April flew off quickly, her leg in pain, and back to level with Carly.

Carly just stared as April flew down and poked it. Most bludgers didn't just stop on their own. She was almost sure it was someone stopping it, but saw no one around. She then heard April scream. Carly jerked her head back to April and the bludger.

The bludger had now been attacking April. Before Carly could get a chance to grab her bat which was tucked under her arm, April dodged it and flew back up to Carly. The bludger immediately followed, Carly backed up a little and it just missed her. She waited for it to fly back down. When it did, she sent it flying off in the other direction.

Carly turned to April, who seemed to be in some pain. "You alright?"

Carly had managed to dodge the crazy bludger, and now it seemed to be flying around aimlessly with no purpose a hundred feet beyond them. April stared at it for a moment with narrowed eyes, but said nothing. Her led was throbbing. She looked at it, and it didn't seem broken or mangled or anything.

"Yeah... I'm alright... my leg hurts a bit. That bludger was harder to kick than I thought," she muttered. She kicked it out a few times and she seems okay. Maybe she'd go to the hospital wing later for some potion or something.

"What d'yo reckon it was doing? Playing dead, or something?" she joked, but her face was still serious. She'd never seen a bludger do that before.

Carly saw April trying to shake off the pain in her leg. She figured she'd be alright. It is pretty rough to kick a bludger. She had done it before, and it wasn't as easy as it would seem.

Carly laughed a bit at this, but saw April wasn't and stopped. She felt bad. She didn't think it was that serious, but she guessed April did. She cleared her throat and shrugged. "The only time i've seen a bludger do that was after somebody cursed it."

She shook her head as she watched the bludger continue to spin out of control. It seemed like it was confused. "Bloody hell." She looked back at April. "Maybe you should catch that snitch and we'll call it game? I'll get control of that thing." She gestured to the bludger.

April looked at the bludger, which seemed to be high on some sort of drug. It was flipping around, doing loops, and conpletely ignoring Carly and April.

"Leave it up to me to get the dud ball crate," she muttered, looking around for the snitch. She spotted it suddenly looping around a goal post, and she raced off. It led her on a little chase through the goal posts, but she snagged it quickly and headed back.

"Let's call it game for now," she suggested. "Wanna go sit by the lake and cool off?" she asked, not wanting to go back inside. It was way too nice out anyways.

While April sped off chasing the snitch, Carly flew over to the bludger. It was in it's own world now, not even trying to attack. It then fell to the ground, where it continued to flop around. Carly took out her wand and pointed it at the bludger.

She muttered a spell and the bludger stopped. Just then April flew back over with the snitch. Carly smiled. "Yeah, no need to go back inside." The girls landed. Carly picked up the now dead bludger and looked at it as she walked over to the crate.

She threw it in there. "Good luck to the next person that tries to use you." She was talking to the bludger. She probably sounded like an idiot.

April looked at Carly and laughed as she placed the snitch back into the crate.

"Amen to that," she muttered, locking up the crate. Her and Carly lugged it all the way back across the bitch and into the shed, and then ran out before anyone saw them sneaking out. That wouldn't be good.

She walked over to the lake, her Firebolt slung over her shoulder, and then sat down. She patted the spot of earth next to her for Carly to sit. She laid back on her back and looked up at the blue sky, which was void of clouds.

"It's nice over here," she said, watching the swirly clouds fly by. An owl swooped over her head and scared her.

Carly sat down next to April, setting her Firebolt on the other side of her. April layed down, but Carly stayed sitting up. She looked out over the lake. She loved it so much. The lake was one of the most peaceful spots at Hogwarts.

"It's beautiful." Carly noticed that April jumped a little and looked up to see an owl flying away. She looked at April and laughed. "That was quite a scary owl, wasn't it?" She said sarcastically.

April had started at the owl flying over her, and CArly had laughed at her. April didn't think it was all that funny, but she could see how that would be funny to Carly, or any outside. The owls weren't very scary at all.

"That was quite a scary owl, wasn't it?" Carly drawled.

April leaned over and whacked her in the stomach with the back of her hand. Carly oofed and keeled over a little, and April cackled.

"That's what you get," she sang out to Carly, rolling over and sitting next to Carly, watching ut for more stray owls. The lake was calm and there were a few people splashing in it on the other side of the shore. She watched a leaf fall from a tree and land on the water's surface, rippling the calm surface.

"It is beautiful," she murmered. This was one of her favorite spots.

Carly was recovering from the blow in the stomach. She thought it was funny, though.

"It's almost like it's unreal." Carly took a deep breath and smiled. "Almost makes me wish i had a boyfriend to sit out here with." She laughed a little.

She thought about that everytime she sat out there. She layed on her back and stared at the sky. "Any boys you fancy?"

April had to think about that. She didn't knoe about boys that she particulary fancied so much, because she was so up in the air with everything in her life. The first person that flashed in her head was Tyler, and then AJ, and then Zeke, and then every boy she'd ever met. She laughed a little, but still didn't have an answer.

"I guess so. I mean, I fancy my best friend back home a bit. But I really never see him," she said, and frowned. "I sort of went out with AJ for awhile. that's a bit up in the air though."

She hated having to admit to that, since it was a tough situation. She shook it off and continued though.

"I sort of had a thing with Zeke Torch too, but he's sort of AJ's best friend. I don't know, but I have a feeling that that relationship could be the most real. I don't know how he would feel about that though," she admitted.

"Wow, I sound like a tramp now. What about you? Any boys?"

Carly thought this was funny. She knew April wasn't a tramp, but it did sound kind of bad. She was also laughing because of AJ. AJ had explained this all to her before. She wasn't about to mention the fact that she had been attracted to AJ. She was over that.

"Well you should go with what's most real. You want to be sure you end up with someone that you'll actually enjoy being with." As she said this, Carly wished she could take her own advice.

"Me?" She shook her head. "No. I'm pretty picky. It's hard for me to settle with someone. And no ones caught my attention lately." That was obviously a lie. She didn't feel it necessary to bring up AJ.

April laughed, because she was good at telling when people lied. She didn't mention it, but she put it in her head to ask AJ if himand Carly had a thing. She didn't care, but it was nice to at least know when you had competition. Not that she even knew if she lied Aj... whatever.

"Hm. Well, you're pretty enough, so you should get yourself out there. I've seen some pretty cute guys... especially in Slytherin. Adn Ravenclaw too," she mentioned.

"So, new school year. What'd you do all summer? Anything interesting?" she asked, curious. She also wanted to share her own summer stories.

Carly wondered why April had laughed. She probably knew she was lieing. For some reason, Carly was only good at lieing half the time. She guesses she was unlucky this time. She was considering mentioning it so that April knew she wasn't after AJ. They've just talked and she thought he was cute. That's all.

"Yeah, there are a few cute ones. But doesn't seem worth it." She shrugged. "You know, i really didn't do anything interesting. It's kind of sad." She thought about it, now wishing she had some good stories to tell. "I had to stay with my grandparents for a while who are muggles. I hated it." She sat back up and looked out at the lake. "What about you?"

April nodded in agreement. Staying with Muggle grandparents must be torture, she could only expect. She couldn't even imagine having to live with Muggles for an extended period of time, although she had sort of done so this summer for awhile with Robyn.

"Muggle grandparents? Aren't you... Pureblood?" she asked, confused. She thought that Carly was, or at least, she was almost positive you had to be to be in Slytherin. She shook her slowly.

"Whatever. Well this summer, I competed in that tournament here. Then I went on a trip with my friend Robyn Singe, she's a fourth year, to New York and then France. We stayed in all her really big houses and I met some of her Muggle friends and Wizard friends and everything. It was really fun, actually," she concluded.

"Well, i am a Pureblood." She was expecting that. Most people got confused by this. "See, my dad was adopted by muggles. His real parents, meaning my real grandparents, were Purebloods. My mom's side is also pureblood." She nooded, figuring she would make it short.

Carly was jealous. "New York? Oh man, i've always wanted to go there." She smiled. "Although i probably couldn't stand so many muggles for too long, it just seems fun. You're lucky."