"Oh!" She shouted excitedly. She ran over to Sarah.

"Sarah, Sarah! You're on the team! We're both on the team!" She gave Sarah an excited hug, almost squeezing the breath out of her in the excitement.

She was almost bouncing on the spot as she looked around to see who else she could hug.

Sarah eyes opened wide, she'd been too scared to look at the real list.

"WOW...the 'A' team and Raphael is the Keeper as well. Strong line-up. What does 'C' mean?" she pointed to the 'C' next to her name.

Someone said 'Captain'.'''

"CAPTAIN! CAPTAIN!....I'm the Captain!" she was bouncing up and down at an alarming rate of bounce.

*********

Shinrei had taken her time in completing the walk from the Quidditch field to the castle. She stopped for a short moment of contemplation by the lake, to give prayer and thanks to the Kami for guidance and strength.

Then with the Rakurai carried over her shoulder, she walked up the castle steps and was struck with the large group of people clustered by the notice board.

She managed to weave through the students and found herself standing face to face with Kat Black. There was an expression of jubilation on the other girl's face.

"Kathryn-san? What is going on?"

Kat grinned at Shinrei and hugged her, completely forgetting all decorum. "You got on too! It's the team list! They've put it up already. Look!" She waved frantically at the white paper on the notice board.

Jacob had been standing in the corridor where Anders had marched by at a very quick pace, face red. He'd also noticed that the man appeared to be clutching the grocery list...which meant that the real list must be up.

Blushing a bit at the sight of all the hugging and squealing girls, he pushed his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. He didn't really even have to push his way through the crowd, because when he squinted, he could see over everyone's heads. He was at least three inches taller than nearly everyone else.

"I...made the team?" He sounded surprised as he said this faintly, and then he read the paper again. There he was! Jacob. No last name. He was on the B team...wow...

A smile spread across his face, and in a few moments he looked just as silly and happy as the other team members.

Sarah was SCREAMING. What had happened? Was she okay?

Raphael threw himself around the corner without thinking, his accelerator going without thinking, not even motioning to Nathaniel who was walking alongside him. If someone had hurt her - or if -

She appeared to be bounding up and down in a small space of her own. The expression on her face seemed happy. But - a sudden thought occurred to Raphael, though, before he could complete his inspection of her state - could he stop in time before running into her?

No.

He bounded up as she did and collided with her in mid air, though, luckily, what could have been two heads banging turned into a hug. Soon both he and her were leaping up and down, still -

Jacob was grinning like an idiot behind her. He'd got on to the team! Raphael did his best to wave 'congratulations' to the other Ravenclawer, but another bounce from Sarah whipped his hand out of control. He did a grin instead, or tried.

He also tried to catch a glimpse of the list as he went with Sarah's bouncing hug, and he couldn't quite see what she'd got in the team as, or who else had. He found himself shouting "what?! what?! what?!" in Sarah's ears repeatedly - had she got on the team? What as? Why was she screaming?!?

Sarah was getting a little giddy with her bouncing about. Finally she managed to get out..

"You're our Keeper Raphael...Jacob is Keeper for the reserve team and I'm a Chaser and Captain! Wow...Captain!" This news promoted another bounce and hug. She also grabbed hold of Nathaniel for a hug fest.

Jacob laughed, turning a bit redder. The stupid smile still remained on his face, and it was probably the biggest one he'd worn for a long time. "Congratulations, you two!" He chuckled, keeping a wary eye on Sarah, in case she should try and hug him as well.

"I'm - WHAT?!?"

After Sarah had grabbed Nathaniel for the hug fest, Raphael slipped out and stood by the notice board. And staggered a little. Somehow - he'd become - there'd been - no mistake -

A very slow smile crossed his face. Somehow. Wow.

"Wow," he whispered. And hurriedly started patting his pockets. He'd lost... where was that... Raphael grabbed Sarah and Nathaniel for one last hug, shook Jacob's hand and motioned to Sarah that he'd be back in a little while for dinner, as he wandered off in search of... Now, where had he... was it by the lake...?

********

Mahou had landed and gotten her hat back from Nimue, clutching it and her broom in her hands. She was the only one left on the Quidditch pitch, her body frozen as if by the Full-Body Bind. She was revealed.

The sun was ablaze in the usual colours of the sunset, but it illuminated something else.. tears.

The half-elf stood there, where she had landed after scoring as a Chaser, crying. Her red hair looked aflame as the setting sun shone upon her, Blackfoot whimpering lightly at her feet.

"I.. I'll ha'e ta find somewhere else ta go ta school again, Blackfoot," she said, her voice cracked and her words broken. "I.. I cannae.." Throwing down her broom and hat, Mahou ran toward the woods, her hands over her face in utter disgrace...

***********

After a while when Anders didn't return Nimue wandered slowly back towards the school doors and saw a rather forlorn Anders seated on the steps.

"Got it back did you?" she said suppressing a smile. She sat down beside him and brushed his long hair out of his face trying to catch his eye, "You can't possibly be feeling miserable about this can you?" she enquired.

Anders managed a rather weak smile for Nimue and sighed. "It's not so much miserable as angry," he said, carefully. He didn't take the word 'anger' too far - both he and Nimue knew that he was capable of a lot when he truly lost his temper: something which he fortunately hadn't done now for some time. "I'm angry with myself for being so careless and stupid, see."

He pushed his own hair back out of his face and leaned on his knees, his hands cradling his chin.

"I know everyone probably just thinks 'oh, bless his heart, what a silly thing to have done', but...well. Who else do you know who would have done something like that?"

He sounded quite upset about the whole thing, which didn't really surprise Nimue. Anders was much given to melancholy, after all, and it only took something tiny like this to start eating away at the very shaky feelings of confidence that he had begun to develop.

"Well Professor Dumbledore for one, Marvo for another.." Nimue said quietly, sitting close so they touched gently hoping that sense of contact with another might serve as a golden thread out of the labyrinth of his self-doubt and melancholia.

This was no time to tell him that such actions were endearing or that he demanded too much of himself. They were and he did. Rather she sat with him in the fading light.

Anders sat with Nimue in comfortable silence for a while watching the light drain out of the sky. He flipped a cigarette absently out of the pack and smoked quietly, before suddenly letting his jaw drop in horror.

"The shops...I have to go shopping...and I have to read..." He made an indication with his hands of the pile of books that he'd brought back with him from London. "And I have to be up early to get back to work...and..."

His blue eyes were wide and slightly manic.

"And so you'd better get a move on then and stop sitting here watching the stars come out with your girlfriend who has a pile of homework to do as well. I should go in for dinner before the gannets clear the table."

She looked at him, her eyes shining, "I love you Anders. Don't stay away too long will you?"

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her gently. "I love you too," he said, shyly, pulling back a little so he could look into her eyes. "Take care...I'll be up tomorrow evening, but I have a tutorial with Professor Dumbledore so may not catch you."

Pocketing his cigarettes, he gave her a wide smile and pushed his hair out of his eyes before turning and walking off towards the village.

Nimue had watched Anders until he was out of sight, waving once or twice when he looked back.Then she went back inside. She looked at the list on the board and was very pleased by it. Congratulations were due to quite a few friends! She entered the Great Hall where dinner had begun.

**********

Raphael was looking lost. Having left the pitch for the notice, and having completely lost his small pouch, he'd ended up by the lake in the mud. His mind was still spinning - he'd got in as a Keeper - and the others on the team - Sarah and Jacob - and Kat from Ravenclaw - and Niki as well - everything was good. And he wanted tonight to be right... it was looking good for it.

But somehow he'd lost the wildflower petals he'd collected earlier, he'd put them in a pouch and dropped them... where? By the lake? Was that where Shinrei had floated them about and accused him of doing it? She was on the team. Raphael wasn't entirely sure what to think of that. He didn't like the way that she and Marvo... were... interested in him. Zephyr wasn't safe...

Looking at the way the water rippled across the lake, Raphael let his mind ripple too, letting thoughts go too. Something he'd dreamed about, ages ago, and the water reminded him of it. There had been some kkind of sound, as well, the lapping of the water against the sea shore. He let his eyes close as the sound pervaded his mind.

It wasn't lapping against the shallow sea shore, it was crashing against the rocks...

Black feathers pouring down rocks... Spreading his wings, losing his broom, and slipping into the night...

He opened his eyes, and found the pouch was in his hands. And as he moved his head, the world twisted, the colours moving from place to place like oil flowing from patch to patch, curdling into new positions of darkness. He saw the retreating figure in the woods, in the Forest. Raphael ran, silent, and was calling out Mahou's name without thinking by the time the trees were around them.

***********

In the confusion, Raphael slipped away and when Nathaniel next paused to see if he was about, he wasn't there.

He paused halfway into the dinner hall and looked at Sarah.

"Where'd the kid go?" The nickname for Raph came easily and without malice. Stalks by Night suddenly streaked into the hall and slammed into Nathaniel's boot, and Nathaniel bent down to pick him up.

"Meow." the cat said urgently. Nathaniel blinked. Stalks by Night meowed again, and this time there was something less surreal about it. Carefully blanking any irregularity from his mind, Nathaniel looked at Sarah.

Pitching his voice low, he said to her and her alone, "He's probably getting himself into insane amounts of trouble. I'm going to go find him."

"Good idea and you are probably right knowing Raphael. Want company?" she asked Nathaniel though kept her eye on Stalks by Night who she figured would advise whether she should go with them or not.

***********

Luis, who had been watching the various reactions of his schoolmates from the shadows with arms crossed and body leaning in a relaxed yet predatory stance against the wall, was now satisfied that no one would bother him if he walked up to the notice board to look more closely at the team results.

His name was under Team B. He sneered when he saw the rest of the roster on both teams. It was all very interesting.

It was going to be, for lack of a better word, fun. With a satisfied smirk on his face, he walked towards the Great Hall for dinner. Along the way, he even stopped a first year Hufflepuff girl and gave her a blood-red rose that he magicked from behind one of her ears.

"For the good times ahead, hermanita," he said, grinning, before she could react. Then he was off, black robes billowing.