: // I sit and WATCH, as tears go by \\ : {OPEN}

[James Sirius Potter]

James smirked at Rosie and said "Seriously Rosie you can't whip my skinny arse. When have you ever done that?" he laughed slightly and looked over to Teddy who was frowning. Remembering that he might have to train for an extra year to fine tune his ability he wished that he could have a power so that he could stay with him and keep him company during that extra year. He put his hand on Ted's shoulder and whispered "Hey it's ok you will get through it."

[Zane Lestrange]

Zane sat up in the common room, letter in hand. It had been a while since his try-outs with the teams and now the letter had arrived. The envelope was cream in colour and sealed with sapphire wax. So this was it, he held the envelope in his hand unsure of whether to open it or not. He knew that this letter would decide his future but he couldn't bring himself to open it. Instead he shoved the unopened letter into his pocket and went to find Teddy, Rosie and James.

Out past the fat lady's portrait, he walked down the corridor towards the grand staircase. He passed some more gryffindors on the stairs, but he headed past them before they had chance to ask him. Out into the grounds in the wide open spaces, Zane forgot about the letter in his pocket when he spotted some figures near the Whomping Willow. That must be them. Who else would want to meet near the Whomping Willow? The grass brushing against his trainers, Zane walked steadily over to the small group, narrowly avoiding some Slytherins who were heading back up to the castle.

As he approached he spotted Ted, Rosie and James, they all looked quite excited about something. No doubt they'll tell me as soon as they see me. With the letter just poking out of the corner of his pocket, he said, "erm, hey guys".

[James Sirius Potter]

James saw Zane and smiled. He waited until Zane was with them before showing him the front of the letter "It's finally come and I have been accepted into auror training with Teddy!" he said excitedly. He then quickly wrote two letters, one for mum and dad and the other to Ron and Hermione. He quickly sealed these and put them in his pocket. He then noticed that Zane had something in his pocket "What's in your pocket Zane?" he asked curiously.

[Zane Lestrange]

"That's great news, congrats both of you." He looked down to the cream coloured envelope sticking out of his pocket. "I'm not quite sure, it's probably a rejection letter, but I didn't have the guts to open it." He took the envelope and held it in his hand, staring at the sapphire seal with two crossed broomsticks on it. He glanced at James writing the letters that would carry the good news to his family. Even if it's an acceptance letter, which it isn't, who would I write to? Definitely not the Malfoys and seeing as though my parents aren't around, not that I'd tell them that anyway. Stupid pureblood lovers, can't see the point in anything that isn't traditional or that challenges the old ways. He flicked the letter between both hands, throwing it in the air and catching it before it was caught on the breeze.

[James Sirius Potter]

James scowled "Oh come on, it's probably an acceptance, they are really catchy today Rosie just got accepted to train to be a healer. Come on Zane open it!" he said excited. He knew Zane would get in. He is as good as if not better than dad was so he will beat out all competition. He stopped himself from sealing the two letters "Open it so I can tell Mum and Dad and Ron and Hermione, they would want to know, they like you." he said looking at the letter.

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted smiled as Zane looked congratulated them. "That, and a Ms. Rosie Weasley got into St. Mungo's." Ted said happily, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and beaming at her. As Zane pulled the envelope from his pocket, Ted shook his head at his friend resentment. "I swear to god Zane, if they didn't pick you, I'd like to see the bloody idiot who made the wrong choice, if you don't open it, I'll open it for you." Ted said threateningly, shaking a fist at Zane with a smile.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie grinned at Zane as Ted wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "C'mon Zane, darling, open it," she encouraged him, looking at the letter in his hands. "All the rest of us've gotten good news today. I'm sure you'll get some too." She could feel the weight of Ted's arm on her shoulder, and for some reason, it seemed much less than it actually was. She was elated now that she knew she was in St. Mungo's School. She couldn't be stopped by anything.

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[Zane Lestrange]

"Hey that's great news Rosie, I'm really happy for you." He smiled before saying, "No. I have to open it. If one of you opens it for me you'll jinx it." He looked around at his friends. They look so happy, they've all got someone to share the news with outside of Hogwarts. Maybe I shouldn't open the letter...after all I don't want to bring the mood down with a rejection letter not after they've all got good news. Yeah maybe I'll wait until later when no one else is around. But what if they want an immediate owl with my reply? Right I'll have to open it...

He flipped over the envelope and broke the wax seal. The parchment inside was of a middle weight, giving no indication of its contents. He pulled out the parchment and began to read. Rejected by the Caerphilly Catapults, mind you their quidditch robes are awful. Oh great rejected by the Chudley Cannons, their bottom of the league. I got rejected by the lowest team in the league, sheesh I must have played really badly. His eyes continued to scan the sheet for the next team name. Falmouth Falcons said I was too polite, well I wouldn't want to be on their team anyway...Rejected by Puddlemere United, guess I won't be following in the legendary Wood's footsteps then. He continued reading until he reached a section which contained two team names: Montrose Magpies and the Tutshill Tornados. What?!?! I've passed the try-outs in both and now I have to choose! How am I supposed to choose between them? The most successful team in quidditch history and the current european champions, heck, which one do I choose? I could be a Magpie or a Tornado. No doubt Ted, Rosie and James will have their own views as to which team is better...

He passed the first piece of parchment on to James before turning his attention to the second piece of parchment. This one had been written in sapphire coloured ink and an elaborate signiture was located at the end. Zane hadn't told anyone about these try-outs, after all he didn't want to get his hopes up. He knew who this was from, the BILQ, the British and Irish League of Quidditch. He took a deep breath before starting to read:

Mr Zane Lestrange,
On behalf of the British and Irish League of Quidditch, I am writing to inform you of the selection procedure for the National Teams. As you are well aware, England Scotland Ireland and Wales regularly compete in the Quidditch World Cup. All four of these teams require you to have family heritage in that country. As you have no living relatives or ancestors from Ireland, I have to regretably, inform you that you have been ruled out of the Irish Quidditch Team selection. However this does not mean you will be at an advantage or disadvantage to those who can be selected by Ireland. All applicants must have a secure place in a British Team to be eligible for selection. As you have two offers from such teams you do not fall into this category.

The letter continued on for another foot of parchment explaining selection procedure, the rules and regulations of national quidditch and went into great detail about mentoring programmes. Finally Zane reached the last paragraph.

Now that you are up to date with everything that is required, I shall get down to business. The British and Irish League of Quidditch is delighted to offer you a place in the England Quidditch Team. This is indeed a great honour as you will be the youngest member in half a century. You shined in the try-outs which granted you a place in the first seven instead of the under 25s you were trying out for. Congratulations and we look forward to meeting you at the BILQ Headquarters in September.

Yours Faithfully,
Ernest Hyden
Chairman of the BILQ

Zane held the letter tightly in his hand, unable to speak, let alone string a coherent sentence together. He stared at the trio, still in a state of shock.

[James Sirius Potter]

James took the piece of parchement and read its contents and smiled "You were too good for the bad teams." he said clapping Zane on the back. He continued reading and said "Wow tough choice. I would go for the tornados, yeah they didn't win the league last year but they have completly transformed their team and since doing that they havn't dropped a match." He smiled at Zane and passed on that bit of parchment to Teddy.

He then noticed that Zane was still in shock about something else. He took the parchment out of Zane's hand and read it. When he got to the bit about the English national team first seven, he gasped and said "You never told us you tried out for the national teams Zane? Congratulations!" he hugged Zane "Youngest person in half a century!" he said proudly.

[Teddy Lupin]

Ted took the parchment and put it so both he and Rosie could read it. "Yeah Tornados all they way Zane. They're alright, but their Seeker brought them down last year." He said, looking at his friend then looked at his shocked gaze over his second letter. He looked to James who was now reading the letter and his eyes bugged out when he spoke. "National Team? National Team? Bloody hell Zane! Congrats!" he said, moving from Rosie to wrap an arm around Zane's shoulder, beaming at his friend. They were now all set up for their dream jobs, who knew today could actually be a happy one?

[Zane Lestrange]

"Ok ok Tornados then." he tried to make a grab for the letter but James had already read it and announced his view. He paused as it was passed onto Teddy. "Look guys. I didn't think I'd get through, that´s why I didn't tell you. I was going to tell you after my first try-out, but then I didn't want to disappoint you if I didn't get through the premliminary. Then when I went to the seconds, I didn't tell you because, I don't know why actually. I didn't expect to get through the preliminary try-outs let alone actually get into the team..." He smiled, I'm not dreaming, I'm not dreaming. I'm in the England Quidditch Team. I can't believe it...

[James Sirius Potter]

James smiled at Zane and said "You deserve it seriously with the amount you practice, just we all supported you and will continue to support you and a free ticket to a match here and there wouldn't go amiss." he teased smirking "Well now I think that an enourmous celebration is in order don't you?" he said looking up at the castle smiling. It was brilliant that they were all going to be training for their dream jobs soon.

[Zane Lestrange]

"Thanks now you know the reason behind the two in the morning practice sessions, but that doesn't mean it will stop. I should have told you guys and of course I'll get you a few free tickets. I'm guessing you'd prefer the World Cup Final tickets, if we get there?" Zane laughed, it seemed really strange to be talking about the Quidditch World Cup and that he had an actual chance of competing in it. One hundred thousand people watching, that thought alone made his head spin, not even counting the fact that he would decided whether they won or lost the game, just as Krum had all those years earlier for Bulgaria. "What did you have in mind James?"

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[James Sirius Potter]

James smiled and patted him on the back "Yeah world cup final would be great." He couldn't believe that one of his closest friends was going to be on the England National Quidditch team let alone be be competing for the World Cup. He smiled when Zane menitoned the late night practices and sighed "Ok if the pracitces arn't going to stop then at least let me practice with you, my Quidditch playing days are numbered now that auror training is round the corner. And to answer your question, I was thinking along the lines of getting food from the kitchens and having a party up in the tower. What do you think?" he asked the room at large. He then lowered his voice to Zane and Teddy and said "I might have a few bottles of firewhiskey from when Rosie confiscated them from the underage students." so that she wouldn't hear.

[Zane Lestrange]

"I knew you wouldn't be able to refuse. Ok sure you can come to the extra practices, if you can drag yourself out of bed that is..." Zane laughed as he said this, it was common knowledge that James wasn't the best at getting up early. "I think it's really cool that both you and Ted are going to be aurors and Rosie a healer! And that sounds like a great idea. You might want to be careful with any of the food the sixth years give you, I over heard a group of them planning to lace some chocolates with love potion. Seems you have some admirers James." Zane laughed again, a midnight feast in the tower, just like in their forth year, well that hadn't ended so well, especially with a certain teacher turning up at three in the morning.