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'MCLAGGEN'
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♡

Mina pulled her coat closer; huddled between Ella and Hermione as the three watched Harry run the Gryffindor team's quidditch trials from the stands.

"I hope Ron does well," Hermione said, warily watching the ginger as he mounted his broom to try out for the Keeper position. "He's really good at Keeper, it's just his nerves get the best of him sometimes..." she smiled at him encouragingly as he glanced her way from the pitch.

"I reckon he'll get it," Ella spoke. "McLaggen is so overly cocky—you saw him before, right? During the warm up? He's not a team player at all..."

Mina hummed in agreement, her gaze was trained to Harry, whose Quidditch robes blew in the wind; his hair ruffling as a few budding Chasers flew right past him. She watched as he tore his eyes from monitoring the small game at hand to send Heather a smile as she waved at him from the stands.

Looking away, ignoring the way her heart dropped, Mina averted her gaze to the rest of the players; her brow furrowing as she made eye contact with Cormac McLaggen—who had already been looking at her. His stare remained on her as he hovered in front of the three goal posts that opposed the ones Ron was guarding.

Mina shifted in her seat, and looked away. She leaned closer to Ella, and murmured, "Don't look now, but I think McLaggen is staring at me."

Ella's gaze immediately switched to the Keeper in question despite Mina's words. "That asshole," she made a noise of disgust, and glared at the boy. "He has some nerve even looking your direction after that time at Hogsmeade."

McLaggen didn't look away from Mina and narrowed his eyes, so Ella held up her middle finger. His scowl deepened—and given he hadn't been paying attention to the game, the Quaffle whizzed past him and went straight through the middle goal post before he could react.

Glancing between Ella's middle finger and the way he continued glaring at herself and Mina, Harry flew between them; blocking his view from the two girls.

"Eyes on the pitch, McLaggen," he called over protectively, who missed catching yet another Quaffle after Hermione whispered Confundo beneath her breath. The three laughed quietly to themselves as Cormac looked around in confusion.

Eventually, after a few minutes more of the game continuing, Harry called them back down to the pitch to announce the results. He appointed Ginny Weasley and Demelza Robins to join Katie Bell as Chasers and Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote as Beaters. A small group of those who had tried out remained on the sidelines of the pitch, chatting amongst one another.

This left Ron and Cormac to stand side by side, waiting to hear the results for who would be Keeper. Ron's ears were a little pink, and he bit the inside of his cheek nervously, whereas Cormac stood tall with a smug smirk across his face as though he'd already been given the position.

"Ron, you're the new Keeper," Harry said, and Cormac's expression instantly dropped as a giddy smile grew across Ron's face.

Mina and Ella followed Hermione down to the pitch, who enveloped Ron in a tight hug. His cheeks blushed red, but he wrapped his arms around her back promptly.

The two Hufflepuff's stood off to the side a little, and watched as Cormac dropped his broom and angrily stalked up to Harry, who held his ground. The girls were too far away to hear what they were saying.

"This is bullshit," Cormac spat with a glare. Harry was at eye level with him, if not a little taller, and returned his glare. "You only picked bloody Weasley because you're friends!"

"I picked Ron because he's a good Keeper and works well with a team. You don't." He said back coolly. "Besides, if this is how you react to losing, I'm not changing my mind. Doesn't help that you're a creep, either."

Cormac's face flushed pink in anger. "What'd you just say?"

"You heard me," Harry said, and lowered his voice. "When you took Mina Lee to Hogsmeade last year, she told me you were nothing but weird and touchy around her. We don't need that kind of presence on this team."

If it was possible, Cormac's scowl deepened, and his hands curled into fists by his sides. "You're the one that set us up for that date in the first place—!"

"Yeah, because I thought you were a good person back then," Harry cut him off. "But if you treat people like that and make my friend—or any of the girls on this team—feel uncomfortable, then you don't belong here."

"Your little friend was practically begging for it," Cormac huffed, and shot a glance at Mina over his shoulder before turning back around. "Man, you should've seen what she was wearing—"

"Go fuck yourself," Harry glowered at him. Cormac made to continue, his fists tightening—until he noticed the rest of the Gryffindor tryouts watching them; particularly some of the strong-armed Beaters that hadn't made the team.

He gave Harry one last look before turning on his heel and picking up his broom with a strong grip. He began in the direction of the sidelines when he caught sight of Mina and started walking towards her.

"MCLAGGEN! Get off the pitch!" Harry called over to him.

Cormac stopped and swore beneath his breath, and finally left the grassy field with heavy footsteps. The small crowd of students around them resumed chatting once more. Mina crossed her arms over chest, eyeing his receding figure apprehensively, and didn't notice Harry had stepped beside her until he lightly nudged her arm with his.

"You okay?" He asked quietly, and she nodded, giving him a small smile. Though Cormac could hardly be deemed intimidating, he towered over Mina—and she worried about how easy it would be for him to try something again with her small size.

Harry sensed her unease. "Well, if you ever want me to set him in place, you know where to find me, okay?" he said, and stepped away once Mina nodded as Ella came to her side, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders.

♡

a/n:
i hate mclaggen
-g