"GET UP! GET UP, ASH! UP UP UP! COME ON ASH!"
ash groaned and rolled over, slamming down the snooze button on her alarm clock. she'd bewitched it to yell like that until she turned it off. she was sort of regretting it, but every time she went to remove the jinx she stopped herself. she’d missed half as many classes since it started screaming. after it had shut up, she rolled over and closed her eyes again. what had she even set her alarm for today, anyway? she didn’t have any classes, and she couldn’t remember anything she might have had plans for. it must just be a glitch. stupid fucking clock. she could’ve slept in… SHIT!

she leapt out of bed, her tiredness forgotten. she grabbed a paramore t-shirt, a black hoodie, a baggy blue jeans and a pair of trainers. reaching into the back of her closet, she found her bat on one of the shelves. it was splintered and dented, but there were too many memories in that bat to throw it away. beater had always been her best position. her old broomstick was lying at the bottom, and she yanked it out. it wasn’t the best broom, but it was a million times better than the crap the school let kids borrow. she shot out of the dorm, crashing through the portrait hole. the fat lady woke up with a start, screaming after her. ash ignored the incensed yells, hurtling down the corridor. she pelted towards the front of the school and pushed open the front doors, tearing out onto the grounds.

she ran down to the quidditch pitch, vaulted the gate and mounted her broom. she was still running as she leapt onto the narrow strip of wood and took off, shooting into the air. as she whizzed around the pitch, completing lap after lap, she couldn't have been happier. she’d forgotten how good this felt. loads of students got to practise over the holidays, but there weren't any convenient hidden fields in london. she had so missed this. she felt the wind shooting through her hair, whipping it out behind her. which reminded her, she hadn’t brushed and straightened it today. it was probably all flyaway again. well, she wasn’t planning on running into anyone this early.

she grinned, completing her tenth lap shooting into the middle of the pitch. she gritted her teeth and pointed the broom down, urging it faster. it fell through the air, picking up speed. ash whooped loudly, gripping the broom tightly with both hands. she pulled upwards at the last second, her toes almost touching the ground as she levelled out and slowed down. she leapt off and raced into the storeroom, heaving out a huge wooden chest. pushing open the lid, she saw four balls all strapped in. a huge reddish-brown one, the quaffle, a tiny, winged golden one, the snitch, and two medium-sized brown balls. the bludgers.

"hey guys," she smiled. "nice to see you again!" she unclipped one of them and it flew out, spinning wildly. it completed two big circles then shot towards her. ash laughed. she knew the damage a bludger could cause if it hit you, but she didn't really care. she'd been hurt worse, and she was confident she could dodge it. she leapt onto her broom and shot upwards, the bludger close on her tail. once she was in the air, she pulled the nose of the broom up and held it there. it shot upwards, then upside down, then back to normal. ash held tight and easily stayed on. she was now behind the bludger. it wasted no time in circling around and flying back towards her.

ash weighed the bat in her left hand, getting a good grip. the bludger shot towards her, headed straight for her chest. at the last moment she dodged and smashed it as hard as she could. she was skinny, but surprisingly strong for her size. there was a loud THUD as the ball and the bat connected. the bludger spun away, but missed the target she'd set for herself (through the left goal post) by a meter or two and smashed into a few nearby trees with a rustle of branches and leaves. ash frowned, staring down at the bat. she wasn't used to missing. she hadn't been able to play over the holidays, so she must be out of practise. well then, she'd just have to get back in practise.

ash shot through the air at who-knows-how-many miles per hour, a big, angry ball flying after her with full intention of cracking her skull. or any other bones, bludgers aren't picky. she was in her element. whooping loudly, she did another loop-the-loop but kept her broom facing down instead of evening it out again. she shot towards the grass below in a mind-numbingly fast dive, completely vertical with the bludger still streaking along behind her. facing the ground, she noticed a figure run onto the pitch and over to the wooden chest. but she didn't have time to think about it - right now, she had to either go horizontal or splat. she chose horizontal.

she evened out and slowed down to get a better look at the person. before she had time to see who they were, the bludger came so close to smashing her elbow it wasn't even funny. and ash found a lot of things funny. the pitch visitor completely forgotten, she did a fast one-eighty and flew off in the other direction. she glanced over her shoulder and saw the bludger hot on her tail but much further away. those things never did have good turning circles. she did another spin and turned to face the bludger, holding out her bat. it was on her in seconds and she smashed it as hard as she could, aiming for the same tree she'd hit before. smack on target.

she didn't have time to celebrate before someone was on top of her, catching her in a headlock-slash-hug and mussing up her hair. she gasped, half laughing and half trying not to have a heart attack. she knew who it was before she managed to push him away and look up. how's my ashwey? teased zane, letting go of her so she could get her balance back. seen any dolls lately? she stuck her tongue out at him. no, just you, sweetie-pie.

zane turned and dived to the ground, becoming a blur for a few seconds before he skidded to a halt. you can't skid in mid-air, but if you could, that's what he would've done. seriously. ash's eyes immediately focused on the tiny gold wings sticking out of his outstretched fist. seeker was zane's position and had been since he joined the team and he was hell good at it. being gryffindor quidditch captain, she sort of resented that. care for a game? he asked. you're on, dollface!

ash's eyes were fixed on the tiny golden wings poking out from between zane's fingers. doll-face? sweety pie? old. your new name now is chickybabe of the century. so, obviously, first one to grab the little golden ball of glory that everyone is after gets the prize of either a kiss from me, or a cookie. he grinned, urged the broom on and circled around her. no rules, he added. fine by me. zane opened his hand and the snitch shot away. her eyes followed it until it pretty much disappeared.

ok. three....two...if you wanna back out, be my guest, chickybabe of the century, he smirked. he gave her virtually no time to reply, but she wasn't about to say anything. ...no? ok. one, GO! he turned and shot off, climbing higher and higher into the air. he paused above her, scanning the air for the snitch. ash was more used to picking out massive brown blobs hurtling towards her than tiny golden flickers, but she had sharp eyes and her twenty-twenty vision served her well. she didn't know how long it usually took to find snitches, but this one must be particularly good at hiding. it was hard to look properly in a few places because the freaking sun kept getting in her eyes... there!

the snitch was hovering near the ground, almost too close for a dive. almost. ash turned her broom vertically down, plummeting through the sky. zane was doing the same thing, but he'd started seconds earlier. she urged her broom forwards, but he was still in front of her. before she knew what was going on the ground was right there. she pulled up, then had to do a quick twirly thing to avoid smacking into zane. she squinted after the snitch. it was speeding across the pitch, heading towards a ravenclaw stand. she swerved around zane and hurtled after it. he had the practised eyes, but she weighed less and was therefore that little bit faster.