Disclaimer: I don't own the world of Harry Potter, J.K does.
James was convinced that this would be the best day of his life. He couldn't believe what was happening. He was actually trying out for the National Quidditch team! He had immediately run and told his mother, who had beamed with pride but you could tell she already knew about it.
"MUM! I'm trying out for Katie's team! She invited me to tryouts! She- wait a second… You knew!" Ginny smirked.
"Katie told me when I interviewed her for the Daily Prophet. That's when I invited her over for dinner." Ginny was still smirking.
James was mad, however, he was too happy to really care at the moment. "I'm gonna get you for this!" He shouted and ran up the grand staircase to tell Al, Remus, and Lily.
Harry walked into the kitchen and kissed Ginny. "I'm so proud of him." He said, hugging her.
"So am I. I really hope he makes the team. I know him and he already thinks he will make it." Ginny said worriedly.
"He'll be fine," Harry said with a small smile.
That night for dinner, Ginny had made spaghetti with garlic bread, Lily's absolute favorite, and pumpkin pasties. They were all sitting around the table talking, mainly about James and the tryout when the family owl, Zeus, flew in the window with Ron and Hermione's response about James. Ginny grabbed the letter from Zeus and he flew to his perch.
"Ron says to kick some ass at the tryout." Ginny said with a smile. "Hermione says that it is an honor that you were even asked to tryout and she and the others are very proud of you."
"That would be how the two of them respond." Harry mumbled under his breath. James was sitting next to him and he sniggered.
"Hey," Ginny said with a warning glare. "That is very true." Her expression changed to a smile and Harry grinned.
They ate the rest of their dinner with casual conversation until finally everyone was finished. Ginny stood up and cleared the plates off the table. The rest of them stayed seated and Harry told them what Katie and Oliver were like at Hogwarts.
"Sorry James, I know you're curious about the Woods but you need to get to bed. Tryouts are early tomorrow morning and you will want to be as rested as you can." Ginny said.
"Mum, it is only 8:30."
"James, she's right. You need your sleep. By the time you actually get into your bed it will be about nine, and trust me, it will take awhile to fall asleep." Harry reasoned.
"I guess you're right."
"Yeah, now off to bed. You three should get some rest as well. Don't forget Lily, you're going over to Uncle Neville's tomorrow," said Ginny.
"True. Al, Remus, you guys should come with me. I'm helping Uncle Neville plant flowers in his garden. Hayley and Nathan are going to help too." Lily said.
"Wow, we have a lot of cousins." Remus said.
"You know Hayley and Nathan aren't our cousins. Neville is just a friend." Lily said with a frown.
"I know Lily, we just call so many people our 'cousins' that it's hard to keep it straight who is and who isn't." Remus said, rubbing his eyes. Harry chuckled.
"Sorry Remus, I can't help that I was so popular." Harry said with a wicked grin. Remus rolled his eyes at him.
"Yeah, yeah." Remus and the other three Potters walked up the grand marble staircase to get ready for bed. James walked to his room and grabbed his pajamas. He had just left his room when he saw Albus leaving his room for the bathroom as well. They looked at each other for a split second, then made a mad dash for the bathroom. They started wrestling at the door, trying to get in. Lily walked past and said, "Give me a break," and kept walking to her bathroom that she shared with Remus. James and Albus wrestled at the door every night. Finally, James shoved Albus to the floor, rushed in the door, and snapped it shut. Albus sat up for a second, groaned, and laid back down on the floor.
James decided to take his sweet time in the bathroom, like always. He even scrubbed the sink out just to waste time. When he finally opened the door he saw Albus was gone.
"Albus? I'm done now." He looked up and down the hallway but he didn't see him. He walked past his room to Albus' room next door. the door was open and Albus was sitting on his bed reading Quidditch Through the Ages. He was dressed in his pajamas and completely ready for bed.
"Hey Al, I'm done with the bathroom."
"Seriously? Just now? Geez James, you were taking forever so I just used Remus and Lily's. They were both finished. What could you have possibly been doing in there for 25 minutes?" Albus glared at James from his bed.
"Oh, well when I finished getting ready I cleaned both the sinks and the toilet. That's probably why." James grinned.
"Why? You hate housework…" Albus wore a baffled expression on his face.
"Yeah, but you hate waiting." James winked at his and turned to leave the room. "Night Al!"
"Good night, James." Albus said rolling his eyes.
James walked back to his room. He crawled into his bed, turned out his lamp, laid on his back. He closed his eyes, but as soon as he did he knew that sleep wasn't going to come easy tonight. He opened his eyes and looked around his room. His walls were Gryffindor red with a strip of gold around the top. As soon as he got to Hogwarts, assuming he was in Gryffindor, he would get Lily to paint red lions around the gold strip. He had asked for them when they first painted his room, but his mother had said they needed to wait until he actually made it into Gryffindor. He was confident he would be though. His whole family had been. The only thing that made his room stand out from Albus' and Remus' rooms, where the walls were identical, was his dark blue ceiling. His father had charmed his ceiling to show the stars above it. He had done the same to Lily's room. They both loved the sky so much that he had done it for a birthday present for both of them. It wasn't an exact replica of the sky, which was why he and Lily sometimes snuck out onto the roof, but it was close enough for tonight. He searched for constellations until he finally drifted off to sleep, dreaming about the next day.
The next morning, James woke up early. He rolled over, saw the time said 6:45, and went to go back to sleep again, but then he remembered what the day was. Tryouts. He sat up and stretched. He needed to be in top shape today. He grabbed the Chudley Cannons t-shirt he had meant to wear the day before, a pair of shorts, and a pair of socks. He slipped them on and tiptoed down the stairs. He went to the hall closet in the foyer and grabbed his running shoes. He walked across the sunken living room and slipped out the back door. He had measured the distance around the manicured portion of the plot and it was roughly 1 ½ kilometers. He jogged out to the edge of the trees and started to run. He had just finished his second lap around the house when his dad stuck his head out the door.
"James! If you want to be on time come inside and wash up."
James jogged back into the house. He sat down and had a quick breakfast of French toast and orange juice, then went upstairs to shower and change.
When he came back downstairs twenty minutes later his hair was still a little damp, but he was wearing freshly laundered dark blue Quidditch robes. They said Hogwarts Youth Quidditch on them in big gold letters, but he didn't really care. It wasn't like he could hide his age or anything. He was also carrying his most prized possession: his Firebolt Phoenix. It was the fastest broom in the world and it was specifically made for seekers. Hardly anyone could afford them, but Harry had got one for him on his eleventh birthday.
"Are you ready to go? It's about 8:15. We should be there a little early though." Harry said. He was dressed in dark jeans and a lightweight red Gryffindor sports jacket.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." James didn't show any signs of nerves, but inside he was a little freaked out.
"Here James," his mum handed him a small black fabric bag. He looked inside to see tons of food and water inside. "They don't get over until three o'clock, but they give you an hour for lunch so I packed some food. You can share with the others if there's extra." She bent down and kissed the top of his head. "Good luck, and be brave." He smiled at her and turned around to face his father.
"I'm ready," he said, half trying to convince himself.
Harry took his son's hand and spun on the spot. They disappeared with a crack and reappeared at the front gate of Hogwarts. Oliver was standing outside the gates with a bunch of name tags.
"Hey guys," he said. He handed James a name tag that said:
James Potter
Seeker
Age 11
It had little Snitched flying around the edge of the paper
"Katie wants to talk to everyone first. She's waiting in the Gryffindor team room for everybody."
"Am I late?" James asked. He couldn't be late. That would ruin everything. He almost started hyperventilating when he heard Oliver laugh.
"Nah man. You still have about ten minutes. Not everyone is here yet." Thank goodness.
James turned around to look at his dad. "Good luck, James. I know you will do amazing, it's in your blood." Harry said, with a smile on his face.
"Yeah, sure." James said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Do you know where the Gryffindor team room is?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, I've been in there a few times." He hugged his dad and said goodbye, then trudged up the hill to the Quidditch pitch.
A/N: Please let me know what you think! I've had this idea in my head for a long time so I need to know if I am getting it down right. R&R!
