Your broomstick rolled in a dangerous flip as you clung to it for dear life. Again.

The grimace on your face quickly turned into a snarl once the bludger swung past you, missing your head by barely a foot.

«WHAT THE HELL, KID?!» you shouted, spotting the redhead and his bat far below you, in the pitch.

You couldn't really see his face from that distance, but he didn't seem happy either.

«WHAT?!» he yelled back, yanking at his broomstick to fly towards you.

Kid had always been an excellent flyer, but boy, everybody was surprised by how he hadn't broken his broom yet. Well, it was reinforced with pieces of metal here and there, to be honest.

«Stop using me as a moving target!» you barked, changing your trajectory to make your way around the field «I'm trying to catch the freaking snitch here!»

He backflipped half-way towards you, his gruff expression suddenly replaced by his smirk.

«Watch your back, sprite.»

You were about to shout again when you heard the whistle of the bludger hurtling at you from behind, and you frantically improvised a weird manoeuvre to dodge it.

«Not good enough.»

Kid took the chance to strike the bludger with his bat and send it right back at you.

Since the distance was so small and you were still recovering from your last flip, this time the ball hit the back of your broomstick, making you swing so violently you had to wrap your arms around the stick not to fall.

«FUCK!»

It took a few seconds to find your balance again, and your head was spinning furiously when you turned to Kid, now much closer.

«WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!»

He gave you an annoyed snort.

«What? It's your job to avoid the bludger.»

«It's your job to keep them away from me!!»

«Maybe during the match, but this is training.» he pointed his bat at you «You were the one saying Gryffindor is going to target the seeker.»

«Yeah, so you could counter it, not so you could make me feel like a goose during hunting season!»

«Well, you'd be cooking for dinner by now!»

Much below, on the humid grass, Killer sighed and lowered the can from his lips.

«Should we tell them that our time is up?»

«I'm sure those Ravenclaw bitches will do it for us.» Yonji scoffed, hinting at the blue and bronze team entering the ring.

It hadn't been the best training. The whole Slytherin group was covered in mud, scowls evident on their faces as they growled at each other for the stupidest thing.

The Ravenclaws marched out of the changing rooms with the broomsticks on their shoulders, sending subtle glares at the rivals.

«Charlotte.» Drake called, getting ahead of his team «I am pretty sure we booked the pitch from four pm.»

Katakuri eyes moved to the other captain, his stern expression not wavering of an inch.

«Of course. We were just clearing out.»

«Yeah, tell those two up there.» Niji sniggered, pointing at the sky.

Katakuri turned to Killer.

«Get your friends here, please.»

The blonde sighed and straddled his broomstick once again, quickly flying over to you and Kid.

The two of you were still bickering even when he dragged you down, the frustration even more evident on your faces once you landed.

«I gather it wasn't a good Quidditch day, uh?» Apoo grinned from the Ravenclaw ranks.

«SHUT THE FUCK UP, SCRATCHMEN!» Kid barked, turning to him like a fury.

Apoo opened his mouth to retort, but his eyes quickly flicked toward Katakuri and he decided to fall shut instead.

Woha, whatever conversation they had, it worked.

«Kid.» Killer said, placing a firm hand on his arm.

«Leave them be, Apoo.»

Your focus immediately moved on Trafalgar Law, standing slightly away from the rest of his team, looking as smug as ever. His golden eyes met yours and he smirked.

«Bad day or not, their seeker is not a problem anyway.»

His words had an immediate effect on you, your blood boiling in your vessels.

«What the hell did you just say, Trafalgar?!»

«Okay, time for us to go.» Killer coughed, grabbing you with his free hand and tugging you and Kid towards the changing room with the rest of the team.

You could just growl at Law's amused face before you took a glimpse of Reiju's unhappy features among her hausemates.

Your lips pressed together as you realised how your continuous little outbursts against Ravenclaw weren't making the situation easy for her.

You turned with a grunt, following the rest of your mates in the lodges.

«I understand you're all tired from yesterday's duels,» Katakuri lectured once he had you all lined up on the bench, everyone scoffing in their own unique way «but if we play our match like we did today, we can forget about the cup. We'll actually end up last.»

You stared at the floor, a tense pout curling your mouth.

Not only you had spent the training trying to dodge Kid's crazy bludgers (and not very well), but you didn't even caught glimpse of the snitch once that afternoon.

Katakuri sighed, shaking his head in front of the general silence.

«We'll meet again here on Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, get yourselves together.»

You let out a long breath and grabbed your bag, heading to the girls' showers.

The hot water felt good on your sore muscles, and especially on your arm. Even if it was completely healed by that morning, it still felt a little stiff.

After washing the mud away from your skin and hair, you wrapped yourself in a towel and walked to the big mirror over the sinks.

Being the only woman on the team meant you had that side of the lodge reserved for you. The wall dividing it from the male part was thin though, and you could hear the mess of the guys on the other side, all yelling at each others. Well, except for Katakuri, of course.

«What a triumph of testosterone it must be, in there.» you murmured to yourself, extracting the wand from your bag and pointing it to your hair.

«Detergeo.»

They dried immediately and you got dressed, not bothering to wait for the others as you walked out in the cold afternoon.

You were usually the last to finish, but that day you didn't feel like arguing with Kid again or explaining to Killer why you were been so childish.

«L/n.»

You hissed a rapid "shit" between your teeth when Katakuri's voice stopped you. Then you turned around and looked up at him, a guilty light already lingering in your gaze.

He stood in front of you in all his height, and you could swear one of his ancestors must have been a giant, his massive arms crossed over his chest and his severe eyes on you.

«Is there something bothering you?»

You frowned, surprised.

«Something bothering me?»

«Yes. About Ravenclaw, maybe.»

"Whoever of you is responsible for this, I will unmask them. And this time won't me like the past. This time I will make sure it ends here."

"Beware your housemates."

You studied him for a few seconds, your stomach churning unpleasantly.

«Scratchmen Apoo bothered me. But you took care of it, apparently.»

Katakuri nodded.

«If it's just that, good. You obviously have a lot going on. I shouldn't have asked you to keep this team together. But I need you focused.»

«I... will do my best.» you muttered, vaguely confused.

«I know you like to handle your own problems, and I respect that.» he added «I just want you to know you can come to me if someone is harassing you or some other issue comes up. Okay?»

You frowned again, now totally confused by his words.

Does he know about Trafalgar...?

Well, I could tell him. I could tell him right now and let him deal with whatever Law is investigating about. Because sure enough he's up to something...

«L/n?»

«Oh? N-No, sorry, I was just thinking if there is anything.» you smiled at him «But nope, everything is fine! I'm just anxious about the next round of the Duelling Tournament.»

His eyes sharpened for a moment, then he shrugged.

«I see. Well, enjoy the rest of the weekend then.»

«Thank you, you too!» you chimed back, hurrying down the hill and toward the castle.

Perona let herself fall on the bed, making your mattress bounce and drawing an irritated groan from your part.

«Hi, don't you look miserable.»

Her greeting was received with incoherent grumbles and your attempt of diving deeper under the blanket.

«Oh, come ooon. It can't be that bad.»

«Well, it was!» you cried, shoving the blanket aside to shoot a burning glare at her «After spending the night in the infirmary for a tournament that, let me remind you, I wasn't supposed to join, I overslept and skipped breakfast and lunch only to play the moving target for bludgers and being covered in cold and mud! Then Katakuri gave me a weird speech on how I need to be focused or something.»

You buried your face in the pillow.

«All I want now is to sleep until Monday morning.»

«Wow.» she observed, blowing on her freshly-done nails «From hero to zero.»

«When the hell have I been the hero?!»

«Yesterday night, when you defeated two Ravenclaws. That was pretty cool.»

«Yeah.» you grumbled «I'm pretty sure their whole House hates me by now.»

She shrugged.

«Maybe a little.»

You groaned and pulled the sheets above your head.

«Stop that!» Perona grunted, tearing them off «You slept enough. Now get ready for dinner and the party afterwards.»

«What party?» you whined, running a hand through your hair.

«The D. brothers party! Oh, I swear, you are the only person in Hogwarts who doesn't know about it.»

«Doesn't matter, I'm not going.»

«Of course you're going!» she growled, clawing at your sleeve to pull you out of bed «You have to be there, I'm being paid a good amount of butterbeers to get you there!»

«You what?»

You finally turned to her, your frown meeting her round eyes as she finally let go of you to play with a long pink lock.

«Yeah, well, it happened at lunch.» she mumbled «Portgas and Monkey started to invite everyone to this party in the South Tower. You know, they have many friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, so... given the situation the Houses are right now, they are the only one who could pull that off.»

You raised an eyebrow.

«And?»

«And people from Slytherin started saying that they would not join such a losers' party, blah blah blah. You know, the usual.»

«And?»

«And at that point Sabo approached a few of us and casually mentioned that it didn't matter what they were saying, since you were going to be there.»

Your eyes widened.

«What?! I've never said anything like that, I didn't even know--»

«That's why he's paying me! To get you there!»

«But... but... but why me?!»

«Because! The moment people heard you were going, they started reconsidering as well!» she uttered «And now many of us actually agreed to go!»

You kept staring at her with wide eyes.

«But... why me?!»

She scoffed and threw your vest over your head.

«Oh, stop stuttering and get you ass ready!»