( ZERO. SHE'S A KILLER QUEEN! )
OCTOBER 1993

✧˖*°࿐

JOSETTE CAREFULLY applied her bright red lipstick, hoping not to smear it in the process. It had been a long week of dealing with Adrian Pucey, and his determination to beat Gryffindor. The Slytherin team had practiced endless hours on the field and heard Oliver Wood's annoying complaints for hours at a time about sharing the field. In Josette's honest opinion, she was sure the team didn't need the practice. They hadn't lost a game all year and she was certain this wouldn't be their first. She wouldn't call herself conceited, but she knew the talent she withheld. And considering she trained years to get where she was now, she wasn't afraid to gloat her skills on the field.

When her mother first introduced the idea of Quidditch, she absolutely refused to play. Once her father encouraged her to at least try, Josette was surprised at how exciting the game was. The feeling of the wind blowing through her hair, thrill after a win, and occasionally knocking someone off their broom brought comfort towards Josie.

The sport was the only reason Josette communicated with other students. It was no surprise she wasn't very social, she had attended one party at Hogwarts and that's because they were blocking the entrance to her dorm. Josie shared a room with Athena Wells, one of the chasers on the Slytherin team, and even she knew what the limit was to talking to Josette. She wouldn't classify Athena as her best friend, but she would maybe accept that they were close acquaintances considering she was one of the only three people she could stand within the team. Her twin brother, Leo Wells who was a beater alongside Josie, was alright she supposed. Lastly, Astra Nova, a girl two years younger who had made the team her first year as seeker, was a raging feminist which Josette adored.

All in all, she didn't have many friends because she chose not to (also maybe the fact that many were scared of her.)

Josie was soon taken out of thought as yells erupted through the locker room.

"Are you fucking serious!" Astra erupted storming towards Adrian. "You're putting in Malfoy as seeker? Everyone in Hogwarts would agree I have ten times more talent than that git!" She finished with an angered look plastered on her face.

"We have to give him a chance, he barely played last year, Astra," Adrian argued defending Draco.

"He didn't play because he sucks, if it weren't for the brooms he bought us he wouldn't even be on the team," Astra said crossing her arms over her chest. "Just because he's rich and has a penis, doesn't mean he deserves to be out there when I've worked my ass off to be on this team."

Josette wasn't one to step into arguments, but she knew they wouldn't beat Gryffindor with Malfoy as their seeker. She hadn't come to practice all week just to lose. "You can put him in when we go against Hufflepuff, Adrian. He's barely had any experience, we need Astra to win, and you know that."

"Josette stay out of this," Adrian argued.

"I've spent more hours practicing for this match than sleeping. I'm not going to lose because of your arrogant self or Malfoy's father." Josette replied.

"Keep my father out of this," Malfoy said finally getting the courage to speak up. "I can get him to kick both of you off the team."

Josette let out a scoff out of amusement. "I think you're forgetting that my family is high up with the ministry as well, Malfoy. Don't threaten me ever again." She said sending him a glare before turning towards Adrian. "Let's let the team decide who is going to play, that sounds fair doesn't it?"

"Leo and I agree," Athena spoke up nudging her brother. Leo, who was slightly distracted by the butterfly on his hand, wasn't sure what was going on but agreed nevertheless.

Josette was positive you could see the steam coming from Adrian and Draco's ears. "Fine, say 'I' if you want Astra to play."

A chorus of 'I's' echoed through the room. Astra sent a challenging look towards Draco putting him in his place. "Seems like the people have decided, better luck next time, Malfoy," Astra said in a sing-song voice

"My father will hear about this." He replied before storming out of the room.

"If we get these brooms taken away, I'm blaming you," Adrian said pointing towards Josette.

"Oh shove off, Adrian. If we get them taken away I'll buy you all new ones, now can we go out to the field?" She said slightly impatient.

The team walked out towards the pitch where Gryffindor was already set up. Josette wanted to punch Adrian for making them late to the biggest game of the year. They would have been warmed up by now if it weren't for his attitude.

Oliver Wood, who had thought Malfoy was playing seeker, almost had a cow when Astra flew right in front of Harry. "Close your mouth before you catch flies, Wood," Josette called out towards the keeper.

"This was your work wasn't it, Vaughn?" Oliver said.

"I wasn't about to let Malfoy ruin our chances of winning." She replied.

"I was planning on it," Oliver muttered.

Josette decided to ignore the Gryffindor and head towards Leo to plan out their attack. It was no doubt the Weasley twins would aim for their seeker, they had been doing the same attack for the past three years. She would've suggested they change up their plays, but it always landed Slytherin a guaranteed win.

"Unless they change course, which I find highly unlikely, stray them away from Astra," Josette whispered towards Leo considering the twins weren't far. "It's no doubt she'll get the snitch before Harry, so we just have to protect her until she does."

"And if they change up their game plan? This is Oliver's last chance of winning the house cup, I heard he spent all summer devising new plans." Leo finished informing the witch.

Josette's brain started turning wondering all the possible plays Oliver could have contemplated. "For now we'll stick to our usual plan, if things go South just aim for Harry's broom to knock him off course just a bit. Not too forcefully though, we don't want to injure him to the point where we get kicked off the team."

Leo nodded in agreement. "We've got this in the bag, don't we?" He said with a proud grin.

"I thought that was obvious," Josette replied.

"Oi, Fred! Wells and Vaughn are too busy flirting, that'll give us enough time to win." George Weasley said loud enough for the pair to hear. Josette knew what the Gryffindor was trying to do, there was no need to be that loud for Fred to understand what he was saying.

Josette rolled her eyes before turning away from Leo. "The only thing you'll be winning is a pair of crutches after today's game, Weasley," Josette said with a sarcastic smile.

George replied with a scoff. "Don't flatter yourself, Vaughn, you aren't that good."

"I believe you'll have a different opinion after the match."

Before George could come up with a reply, Oliver's yells were being heard across the field. "George stop talking to her, she'll get in your head!"

"I already am, Wood," Josette replied in a monotone voice. "I'll see you after my win, Weasley." She stated before flying towards her spot on the field. Looking at each player on their team, Josie was confident that they'd be earning Slytherin a win.

✧˖*°࿐

It had been nearing an hour and neither seeker had caught, or even spotted the snitch. Each team began growing impatient as the score stayed consistent throughout the game. Slytherin was in the lead by only twenty points meaning it was anyone's game. Josette continued throwing the bludger at the Gryffindor chasers who got in her way, but the Weasleys were doing the exact same thing. Therefore, the Slytherins weren't able to get too far ahead on the score.

"Another Gryffindor chaser down due to Vaughn's bloody aim." Lee Jordan announced causing the Slytherin side to erupt in a cheer while Gryffindors let out a chorus of 'boos'.

"You're going to kill someone!" George exclaimed noticing Katie Bell barely being able to stand.

"She's not dead, Weasley. Go comfort her if you want, stop distracting me." Josette replied before flying off in search of ways to help the team.

"Nova has spotted the snitch!" Lee yelled causing Josette to turn quickly out of surprise. "Harry Potter isn't far behind her trail, who will get it first!"

It wasn't long before Josie noticed George heading towards Astra with a bludger in hand. She quickly searched for Leo, but he was too occupied with Fred to help. The Gryffindor was too far for her to block on time. Astra was less than ten feet away from the snitch and George was about to prevent her from getting it, so there was only one option she was left with. In one swift motion Josette through the bludger hurdling towards George.

She knew Lee would yell something to make George turn around. She was counting on it.

"Vaughn's bludger heading straight for George!" Just like Josette predicted, George turned around as the ball hit him straight on the nose. He was lucky the Slytherin hadn't thrown it at full force, if not he would have landed a concussion. George was stable enough not to fall off his broom, but wasn't fortunate enough to stop Astra.

"Astra Nova has caught the snitch, Slytherin wins," Lee says trying his best to sound enthusiastic, even though he was quite pissed off at the loss. "And George Weasley seems like he needs a trip to the hospital." He finished noticing his best friend clutching his nose tightly.

Josette flew down to congratulate the team on the win. Although she hated hugs, she didn't yell at Athena when she pulled her into one. "Thank Merlin you distracted George, he was about to knock out Astra!"

"I'll give you that one, Josette, that was a pretty good play," Adrian said not wanting to give her too big of a compliment.

Before Josette could reply with a sarcastic remark, half of the Gryffindor team began storming towards them, and she knew exactly why. George Weasley's nose was a dark shade of purple with blood trickling down his nostril.

"You cheated, that was complete bullshit, we both know you don't deserve that win." George began to argue coming face to face with the Slytherin.

"Last time I checked Astra caught the snitch, therefore we. won. the. match." Josette replied in a challenging voice, taking a pause in between each word for effect.

"You almost killed me!" George exclaimed. "I was this close to falling off my broom." He said holding up his index finger and thumb.

"Well unfortunately you're still standing right in front of me, so accept your loss and grow up, Weasley!" She exclaimed becoming annoyed of the Gryffindor. People got hurt during Quidditch, it was a normal occurrence there was no reason for him to slash out.

George, who was still a few inches away from her face, took a deep breath to calm himself down. "One day I'm going to shove our win in your face, Vaughn, and I won't need to almost kill you to do it."

"Good for you, Weasley. Until then, get out of my way." She sneered. "Unless you'd like your nose broken a second time."

Fred quickly pulled his twin away from the flaming Slytherin, as Leo did the same to Josette. He knew she wouldn't hesitate to hex him which could possibly get her kicked off the team.

"He's not worth it, Josie, c'mon let's go." He told her guiding her away from the group of Gryffindors.

"He's lucky I love this sport enough to not kill him," Josette said.

Leo let out a laugh. "Let's go play some Queen in the common room, I believe Killer Queen fits the occasion."

author's note
hello everyone! so this was
the prologue just to show
everyone where the rivalry
really began! hope you enjoy
this story <3