A/N: This is my first non-romance or hint-romance fic, and it tells a story about James Potter and a girl from a made-up school! This is a one-shot. R&R please!!!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. does not belong to me.
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.The Best Chaser.
'There's going to be a Quidditch match between Hogwarts and Blanchester?' Mr. Harry Potter asked, looking surprised. James nodded. 'Me, Albus and Rose's going to compete,' he said, 'I'm absolutely psyched!'
'Did you just say Blanchester?' asked Rose's mother, Mrs. Hermione Weasley, looking up from the newspaper she was reading, 'That's the best witch-only school in Britain!'
'I know!' squealed Rose, 'That's why we're so excited.' Albus cocked his head to one side. That was his weird habit, when he was delighted. 'We're going to squash these girls!' exclaimed James confidently.
'Don't be so cocky,' Lily said, entering the conversation, 'My pen-pal from Blanchester, Keisha Lee said that they have the best set of Chasers in their Quidditch school team, especially this one particular girl; if I'm not mistaken, her name's Emily Hart.'
'But Albus will have the Snitch in no time!' James said, looking proudly at his sixteen-year-old brother. Albus and his father went a bit red when Mrs. Weasley said, 'Albus' is just as good as Harry at Quidditch.'
'Rose's good dealing with the Quaffle, too,' Albus said, 'Besides, our Keeper's rather good.'
Mr. Ronald Weasley wrinkled his nose with an expression of disgrace and said, 'Trollish, like his father, that Kenny McLaggen.'
'He's rather unpleasant, sometimes,' agreed Rose, 'but he's superb.' James still looked self-assured. 'Sean and I will make the best hits at that Hart girl, no worries.'
Mrs. Weasley flinched. She hated the thought of being hit by a Bludger; it seemed extremely painful to her. 'I have heard a lot of Blanchester,' she said, 'they have a tutor student for each subject, and all of them are even better than Hogwarts.'
James, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley looked angry. 'Are you comparing them to Hogwarts?' James asked, not trying to keep the heat produced from his voice. Mr. Potter said, 'Hogwarts was your school.'
Before they could throw any more accusations, Mrs. Weasley quickly said, 'Of course I'm not judging against Hogwarts. I was just making a statement. I still think Hogwarts is better,' she saw James' suspicious look, 'Really.' She added.
.
'Today's the day!' James took his bat and gave it a swing. Albus put on his Quidditch robes and gloves then went down for breakfast. 'Surely,' Mrs. Ginevra Potter said, 'you won't wear those gloves while eating, dear?'
Albus took off his gloves and put them beside his plate. He started stuffing all the food into his mouth, and when James came down the stairs, he had finished his breakfast. 'You've finished!' cried James, looking amused, 'The pig!'
'James!' Mrs. Potter warned. Albus laughed and ran his hand through his thick, jet-black hair. He looked a lot like his father, now that he was sixteen. Many people said they could've been easily recognized as brothers. James, on the other hand, looked more like their mother with red hair and hazel eyes.
'Dad's going to pick up Rose, too?' asked Albus asked. His mother nodded and said, 'I never thought Rose would ever take up any interest in Quidditch.' James smirked. 'You thought she'd be like Aunt Hermione, right?'
'Yes. Never thought Hugo was the one who'd take after his mother's genes.' Albus suddenly gave a long, loud belch. James laughed. 'Good one,' he said. Mrs. Weasley shook her head, but smiled all the same.
'Captain for Hogwarts' Quidditch Team, James Potter!' shouted the man holding his wand at his throat. James stepped out, and heard cheers from some familiar faces and many other Hogwarts' students he didn't recognize.
'Captain for Blanchester's Quidditch Team, Belinda Fisher!' A tall girl with short cropped hair stepped out from the other side of the pitch. 'Now,' the announcer said, 'these two captains are both Beaters so I guess we'll see them beat each other up!' He laughed at his own silly joke. Nobody else laughed.
'Keeper for Hogwarts', Kenny McLaggen!' he exclaimed. The big, burly boy stepped beside James. He was twice the size of James. 'Presenting Keeper Olivia Jones for Blanchester's!' Another girl stepped out, also as tall as the captain.
'Chasers Ned Von Dragen, Leslie Root and Rose Weasley from Hogwarts!' Three other people stood beside James. He looked down at Rose and smiled. She smiled back nervously. 'Chasers Irma Willows, Lori Seafield and Emily Hart from Blanchester!'
One girl was quite short (but still strong-looking), but the other two were tall as the rest of the team. 'Sean Hidalgo, another Beater for Hogwarts,' called the announcer, 'and Paula Graham for Blanchester.' James felt a thump on his shoulder. He grinned at his partner, Sean. They, so far, had been the best Beaters Hogwarts has ever seen beside Fred and George Weasley.
Paula Graham was a very athletic looking girl, with a large frame and muscles. 'And finally,' said the announcer, 'Albus Potter, Seeker from Hogwarts and Daphne Kingston, Seeker from Blanchester!'
Daphne Kingston was the only small-sized, petite girl in Blanchester's team. She was as small as Rose, whose height was only five feet, which was tiny for a seventeen-year-old.
'Captains,' the referee, a sturdy Indian man said, 'shake hands.' James shook Belinda's hand. She gave a small, leering smile. He didn't return the smile. He had a feeling that his team wasn't going to score much.
The Quaffle was thrown high up in the air. The Hart girl immediately seized the ball and flew away with it. She was so fast; she was only a blur of black and white. She passed it to the short Chaser, Lori Seafield. She zoomed around the pitch, avoiding Hogwarts' Chasers very narrowly.
She scored. 'Ten points to Blanchester!' shouted the announcer. Then, the Quaffle was in Ned's possession for just about a few seconds, when Emily Hart swept it up again. She zigzagged from Hogwarts' Chasers and scored a goal for Blanchester.
James hoped that Albus would get the Snitch faster than Daphne Kingston. He saw, once again, Emily in possession of the Quaffle. He hit the Bludger with his bat toward her. It missed her very, very narrowly.
She passed it to Irma Willows but was snatched by Rose. James whooped as she started bringing the Quaffle to the goal… Unfortunately, Emily snatched it again and scored a goal for Blanchester.
Ned had the Quaffle again, and almost scored a goal for the team, but Keeper Olivia Jones blocked it. Blanchester scored more and more goals until they scored one-hundred-and-fifty points altogether, while Hogwarts only scored ten because of Rose's scoring goal.
James was starting to feel hot anger surging inside him as Emily was in possession of the Quaffle. He hit a Bludger nearest to him with all his might toward her. Everything seemed to slow down. The Bludger was pelting its way to Emily s-l-o-w-l-y.
She didn't realise the Bludger was after her. Everyone hear the sickening crunch when it hit her back. She slipped down her broom, releasing the Quaffle. James didn't look down when he heard a thud below him. He flinched slightly when someone shouted from below, 'She's got a broken spine! Bring her to the Wing immediately!'
The Quaffle was now in Leslie Root's possession. She passed it to Rose and she scored. The Keeper seemed to have been really distracted by their team losing their Chaser. 'Emily Hart replaced by Fiona Needle!' exclaimed the announcer.
A rather thin, unhealthy looking girl kicked off from the ground on her broom. She had thin, lanky straw coloured hair which kept going into her face because it wasn't tied neatly. Since the exchange of Blanchester's team Chaser, things were becoming ugly for them.
Fiona Needle was a very lame player and a Quaffle-hog. Irene and Lori kept shouting at her for not passing the ball to either of them. Rose, Ned and Leslie all scored superb goals. James thought the Keeper was getting weaker at her Keeping skills. She seemed so upset about losing Emily Hart during the match.
'Ah!' the announcer suddenly exclaimed, 'Albus Potter seems to have sharper eyesight than Daphne Kingston! He has finally seen the Snitch, and Daphne is at his heels! Watch out, Albus!' The announcer laughed again.
James looked at the scoreboard. Blanchester was still winning over ninety points. Albus catch at the Snitch would win the match for Hogwarts. James just hoped Blanchester won't score more points than a hundred.
The Blanchester team didn't get any more points soon after. 'ALBUS POTTER'S GOT THE SNITCH!!!' yelled the announcer suddenly. Hogwarts' team cheered. Sean looked almost like falling off his broom.
James flew to Albus and patted him on the back. 'Good job!' he bellowed in the boy's ear over the noise. Albus looked proud. All the players flew down and landed. James came over to shake Belinda Fisher's hand.
She looked like she had tears in her eyes as she shook hands with James. She gave him a bittersweet smile and ran off. The Keeper for Blanchester's, Olivia Jones was wiping the tears that were streaking her face.
The two Chasers, Irene Willows and Lori Seafield looked sad, too. They immediately rushed off to the Wing as soon as they landed. The only member of the team who wasn't looking disappointed or sad was the replace player, Fiona Needle.
James decided to visit Emily Hart after all the, 'Congratulations!' from the other team members. She was lying on the bed, still unconscious. He sat on a chair beside her bed. He stared at her for a few moments. Injury at the spine was extremely dangerous. It would cause her to be paralysed for the rest of her life.
The other two Chasers came in. They were surprised to see James there. Irene gave him a genuine smile and Lori nodded at him. 'Is she going to be alright?' he asked. Irene said, 'Well, Madam Wilhelmina said she's not going to play for a few weeks, but she'll soon recover.'
James nodded. 'She's really good.' Lori agreed with him, by saying, 'She's the best of us Chasers. She tutors younger students in Charms, too.'
'She sounds nice,' James said, 'Wonder where she lives?' Irene scratched her nose and replied, 'I don't really know. Only her best friend Rachel knows and she's not in the Quidditch team because she has asthma.'
There was silence. 'Well, um,' James said awkwardly, 'If you know her address, could you please tell me? I'd like to write to her sometime.'
They both nodded and congratulated him for winning before going out of the Wing. He, too, went out after a few minutes.
A Few Weeks Later…
'James! You've got mail,' Mrs. Potter's voice hollered from the hall. James went out of his room and retrieved the letter from his owl's beak. He opened it and saw a clear, neat writing on a roll of parchment.
Dear James Potter,
I've been told that this is your address. Thank you for visiting me every week. My spine's now okay, I guess. It still hurts. You made a wonderful job on healing it, really. Of course, at least you didn't take my bones away like you said your father had when he was in second year. Write back – I don't have anything much to say.
Your 'best chaser',
Emily Hart.
_Fin_
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A/N: Your mouse is less than an inch away from the marvelous, awesome button that will take you to the world of happiness! I think. Or you'd just make me feel awesome and spirited. Whichever you prefer. :D But still, no flames please.
