Mid-October brought rain and rumor in equal measure.
The sky over Hogwarts hung low and gray, and the Quidditch pitch was slick with dew and mist that clung to the posts like ghosts reluctant to fade.
Cassius stood on the edge of the pitch that morning, hands tucked behind his back, his expression unreadable as Madam Hooch strode toward him.
Having called both Cassius and Cho to the field for some reason, one Cassius himself could already guess at.
Her silver hair was tied tight, her hawk-like eyes sharp as ever.
Even now, there was a flicker of disbelief in her gaze whenever she looked at him — at the black and silver crest upon his robes.
"Snape—" she began, then caught herself. "Mr. Snape."
She sighed.
"It seems the school has decided to make things… interesting."
Cassius raised a brow.
"Interesting?" he echoed mildly.
Hooch nodded, lips twitching into something like reluctant amusement.
"After some… persuasion by the Ravenclaw students, and a vote among the four houses, it's been decided that House Draconis will be permitted to participate in Quidditch this year, having a five team schedule vying for the Quidditch Cup this year."
That caught Cho off guard a little.
"You mean-"
"Yes," Hooch interrupted, clearly enjoying the surprise. "You and Miss Chang may form a team. The rules don't account for a house of two, so technically, the decision passed uncontested. You'll play as an official team against the others, provided you both meet equipment and safety requirements."
Cho, who stood beside Cassius, blinked.
"Wait—just us? A team of two?"
"Unless you can recruit more," Madam Hooch said dryly. "But considering your… limited membership, I imagine that won't happen soon."
Cassius's expression darkened in thought for only a moment before it broke into something rare and dangerous — a smile.
Not kind.
Not cruel.
Merely… knowing.
"That will do nicely," he said.
Madam Hooch arched a brow.
"You sound confident for someone who hasn't yet got a broom."
"Ah," Cassius replied, voice smooth as still water. "About that, i have it under control."
~
Two days later
As the students were gathered in the great hall taking lunch, the owls began flood in overhead, with many dropping the daily prophet for those who'd subscribed along with other mail from their family's.
Meanwhile a white owl arrived carrying a long, slender package wrapped in brown paper and twine.
Dropping the package into the waiting arms of Harry Potter who seemed surprised to have received any mail at all.
Upon unwrapping it, he stared unblinkingly at The Nimbus 2000 — sleek, proud, top of the line racing broom before him.
No note was attached to the broom, which made him wonder just who had sent him the broom... certainly not Professor Snape, so perhaps Professor Dumbledore?
At the same time Lily Evans was gleaming at the teachers table watching the joy in her sons eyes and he unwrapped her present, unknown to her this moment was the happiest and one of the rare few happy moments of his entire life.
~
Not a week before word spread across Hogwarts like wildfire: Slytherin had a new Seeker.
The youngest in a century.
Which was true since even before Harry was named, the record was broken by Cassius who would play seeker, only to then have the record broken again by his younger twin brother, younger by a matter of minutes.
As the Slytherin's were all actively bragging about how they'd win the cup this year again, while others announced their intent to have their parents send a Nimbus 2000 to them as well.
An other pair of owls entered the Great Hall.
Both black as if cut from the very night sky itself, each carrying aloft packages that were long and thin on one end, but unlike the brown paper wrapping of Harry's broom, these packages were wrapped in purple velvet as if to signify their greater importance.
Cassius quickly tapped Cho on the arm before looking up.
Good thing to, as the minute she did the owls let go-
Plunk Plunk
Each package one after the other was dropped, before being caught in their waiting hands.
cassius took his time having already known what was inside.
But Cho's eyes widened as she uncovered her package, looking at the sleek broom now resting on the table before her, its pure black form like a dragons nail.
She picked it up turning it round until she found an inscription plate.
"Aeriusbolt Mk. I"
"What—?" she began, but Cassius only gestured for her to keep quiet about it.
This was the finished product after years of research and development, the Aeriusbolt, a broom superior to the Thunder, and Fire bolt series brooms, even their later supreme models.
Compared to the prestige of the Nimbus 2000, the arrival of the pair of pitch black broom with no history the student couldn't care less.
But for Cassius this arrival was the first victory in securing the quidditch cup.
Having unwrapped his own broom, he looked across at Cho.
"Let's go try them out?"
~
A moment later as the two had made their way out of the school into an open field near hagrids hut, the broom's delicate hum had turned into a roar of air.
Cho shot skyward like a streak of silver lightning, so fast the gust knocked Cassius's hair back.
The broom responded as if reading her thoughts — not waiting for movement or command, but anticipating it.
She climbed, banked, and spun in an arc that left even Madam Hooch, observing nearby at the quidditch field, gaping in disbelief.
When she leveled off high above the pitch, Cho's laughter echoed down through the mist — exhilarated, disbelieving.
Cassius having mounted his own broom shot up into the sky chasing after her, not choosing in this moment to test the brooms performance and quickly arriving by her.
"Cassius! This thing—! It handles like—like a dream!"
He cupped a hand to his mouth. "And the speed?"
Her voice came back, wind-carried. "So fast, i mean i feared falling off the end at first, but the broom itself seems to keep hold of me, to prevent that no matter how fast i go!"
Cassius only smiled faintly.
"These are experimental brooms from the Arcanum," he said. "Compared to traditional broom there is no contest."
The Aeriusbolt was more than a broom.
It was a statement.
If the Nimbus 2000 was the newest jewel of the wizarding world, the Aeriusbolt was its crown stolen from the heavens.
~
By the next morning, whispers filled the corridors.
"Did you hear? Draconis has their own team."
"Two of them forming a team, apparently."
"They'll lose for sure!"
"Dead last no chance at the cup!"
The whole school seemed against House Draconis.
Well except for Professor Snape who hated the game of Quidditch from his past, but upon hearing his own son would play Seeker, a faint smile broke across his dower face before quickly receding into his eternal scowl once more.
~
That evening in the Draconis common room, Cho sat cross-legged before the fire, broom resting across her knees, and she worked hard to polish it handle.
She hadn't stopped smiling since her first flight.
"I still can't believe you got these," she said. "They must have cost a fortune."
Cassius didn't look up from his parchment.
"Didn't pay a single sickle for them actually. Just asked them to send a pair over for us is all."
"That sounds… ominous," she said lightly.
He looked up, eyes glinting in the amethyst light. "Well, i suppose it does but if you can form an unbreakable oath with me i don't mind sharing the secret of how i got them?"
There was a beat of silence before she asked,
"So — who plays what?"
"I'll be Seeker," he said without hesitation. "You'll be Keeper."
"Keeper?" she asked, blinking. "If i'm not a seeker then i want to be a chaser!"
He smirked faintly.
"Settle, settle, there is a reason why. We don't need a full team, just enough to end the game before we're overwhelmed. If you can keep them from scoring too heavily, I'll catch the Snitch before they know what hit them, and victory will be swift, if we get another housemate then you can become a chaser, while whoever they are takes over Keeper."
Cho stared for a moment, then exhaled and nodded.
"You're insane," she muttered, though a smile tugged at her lips. "But fine. I'll guard the goals. Don't you dare take too long."
"I won't," he said.