Chapter 2:
After a moment's blur, James pulled away from my lips. Most of our fellow Gryffindors had joined us on the field by now. I turned to see little Lily Potter behind. For a third she was not that small but being the youngest of the Potter-Weasley clan along with Hugo meant she had gotten stuck with that nickname.
"Congratulations!" she beamed as she gave me a hug.
"Thanks!" I smiled. "Next year you'll be the one to catch the snitch!"
"I have to admit I'm looking forward to next year's trials!"
"Just another year and you won't even have your older brother here anymore!" I teased.
"I will finally be able to talk to boys!" She joked.
"I can't wait to see his face once you get your first boyfriend!" I told her.
"Let's not even go there!"
We both laughed and turned to look at James talking to Josh. He noticed us looking and shot us a "what?" look witch made us laugh even harder.
"We should get over there and ask McGonagall to give us the Cup early this year. We're on fire. Looks like the Slythergits will have to settle for second place again." Fred said.
"Fred, don't call them that!" I responded. "They are not all that bad!"
"It's just a nickname, every house has one!" James informed me while placing his hands around my waist from the back. "Like Ravenclowns and Huffleduffs!"
"You don't like it when we're called Gryffindorks do you?" Roxanne, who had overheard his remark, added.
"No but that is only because we are not dorks!" James answered.
"I give up on talking sense to these boys!" I huffed while getting myself out of his grip. "Why don't we head back to Gryffindor Tower and get this party started?"
"I think that is a brilliant idea!" James grinned as he walked by me.
We began to walk off the park and back to the changing rooms. As we did so all our fellow Gryffindors continued their chants and applause. I turned to look at the crowd and saw my dad along with Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron.
"James!" I pulled him back. "Parent alert!"
We passed the message along to the rest of the gang and slowly made our way over to them. Turned out Fleur was there too along with George. We greeted them with hugs all round, we hadn't been in school that long but it was nice when they did show up to the odd match.
"Well deserved!" Ginny congratulated us.
"I just hope you won't be the first captain in five years to lose the Cup, James!" Harry joked.
"I'll probably never show my face again if we do lose it!" James grinned.
"Speaking of losing it, Casey what on earth were you thinking when you braked?" Hermione pressed. "That was dangerous! You could have fallen!"
Out of all of us Hermione had never grasped the concept of Quidditch. She never understood my risk taking during games. Everybody always laughed her remarks off and this time it was no different.
"What's life without a little bit of danger?" Ron teased. "You should know all about crazy plans, you were the one that goes us jumping on the back of a dragon!"
Hermione shot Ron a murderous look and slapped his arm. He faked pain and that's all it took to set us off again.
"We are not interrupting are we?" Zack Mason asked as he came closer with Gwenog Jones. "It's just we are on a tight schedule."
I think my mind froze just then. Zack Mason was captain for the Chudley Canons, the best team in the tables right now, and Gwenog Jones had recently become the Holyhead Harpies coach. I admired her so much that her turning up at a Hogwarts Quidditch game seemed so unreal right now.
"No you're not, please go ahead!" Ginny said with a knowing smile.
"Is it alright if we borrow James and Casey for a few minutes?" Jones asked.
"I'm sure they will be okay with that!" Ginny grinned.
James and I looked at each other and followed the two Quidditch players to a quieter place.
"You are probably wondering why we want a word." Zack said.
"Yeah, I am at least." I admitted.
"We have an offer for both of you." Gwenog said.
"What kind of offer?" James questioned.
"One of the best offers you will probably get." Zack smiled. "We would like to offer you a place on our respective Quidditch teams."
I was momentarily stunned. Gwenog Jones was offering me to play for the famous Holyhead Harpies? And James was getting a spot on the Chudley Canons? This was too good to be true.
"That's why you are here today?" I asked. "So you could have a look at our skills?"
"We had heard of them but seeing them is always best and to be honest you have impressed me Casey." Gwenog revealed. "What do you two think?"
"I'll take it." James confirmed.
"Are you sure you don't want time to think about it?" Zack asked.
"Why would I? I wanted to play Quidditch after leaving here, and now you are offering me a place on a team. Why would I refuse?" James said in a "duh" tone.
"What about you Casey?" Gwenog asked.
"I… I…" I stuttered. "I… I think I need to think about it."
"Take your time, don't rush your decision." Zack said kindly. "We have to go so we'll drop by in a few to get your final decisions and to draw up a contract if you accept."
"Thank you." I managed.
They smiled, made their goodbyes and walked off. I was ready to walk back over to our family but I felt James take my arm.
"What do you think of the offer?" James asked.
"It's tempting but I need to think about it." I admitted.
"What's to think about? It's not like you are going to get a better one!"
"How do I know I'm not? Maybe I don't want to be a Quidditch player or maybe I just don't feel ready to make that decision!" I couldn't get over the fact that James didn't understand that this decision would change our lives.
"Come off it! You would love to play Quidditch professionally!" He had snapped as well.
"You can go ahead and accept if you want but I don't want to make the wrong choice that I'll regret later!"
"So you think I'm going to regret it?" He retorted.
"I never said that! I just said you should think about it, there is no point in rushing. This offer could affect the rest of your life!" I explained.
"You're not my mother! I can make decisions myself, thank you very much!"
"I'm not getting on to you the way a mother does; I'm talking to you as a friend …" I lowered my voice. "I'm talking to you as your girlfriend."
"Well, you're not acting like one right now!" He spat.
He knew he had crossed the line because I saw him bite his tongue.
"Fine." I snapped. "I'll see you around James."
And with that I started to walk away not even turning round as he called my name. I really couldn't care less. Tears were drowning my eyes and soaking my cheeks: it's funny that in a space of a few minutes your perfect relationship can be turned upside down. I ignored my family and the others as I stormed of the pitch. Thankfully all the students had already left to go back to their common rooms. So I finally let my emotions over power me as I slid to the floor next to one of the school walls. I put my head in my hands and started to sob. I felt an arm wrap around me and I almost hexed them thinking it was James. But when I looked up, it was Jacob.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Nothing." I managed.
"Well you are getting worked up over a lot of nothing aren't you?" He made me give him a weak smile. "I knew you would smile at that."
"It's just we've never argued before and this was just awful." I croaked.
"You have to argue at some point." My brother said.
"Well, that's encouraging advice." I shook my head slightly.
"I'm wise beyond my years, you should probably listen." He joked. "All I know is: everyone fights. You and James are no different. Fights sometimes mean people have grown apart but—"
"Are you suggesting that James and I have grown apart?"
"Absolutely not!" He protested. "Sis, you need to see the way you two snog in public! I don't even want to imagine how you kiss when no one is around! What I was trying to say was that people fight when they grow apart but if you don't well that just shows that you have nothing left to fight for and your relationship has become boring."
"I guess you're right." I swallowed before continuing with a small smile. "Since when have I become the emotional teenager that cries over boy troubles?"
"I guess it's come with old age?" He grinned mischievously.
I slapped his arm and he faked pain.
"You really know how to cheer me up don't you?"
"I'm your brother, that's what I do!" Jake joked.
"Thanks."
"You shouldn't worry about James. He'll come round and you should probably go easy on him." He suggested. "He's probably a lot less confident than he is letting on."
"Yeah, that might be the case." I pursed my lips. "We argued because we've just given offers to play Quidditch professionally next year. He's pretty much accepted but I said that maybe he should think about it first."
"I wasn't excepting that." Jacob breathed out. "I should probably say congratulations."
"It's not funny; I really don't know what to do!"
"Answer this then …" He said "Do you like playing Quidditch?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then what's stopping you?" he asked.
"I guess Quidditch means travelling constantly, not being able to settle down for a while. I feel that if James and I are both away a lot, our relationship will crumble."
"Why don't you ask Ginny, she played Quidditch and managed to have a family with Harry?"
"I don't think asking her about that right now after I have just argued with her son is a good idea!"
"Write a letter, it's the best way to get what you out." He suggested.
"I really should be getting back up to the castle." I said.
"I would hurry if you don't want to be bombarded with questions from Dad and the others!" He teased.
I gave him a weak smile as I got up. I wiped my tears away and gave him a hug.
"I'll see you around." I finally said.
"I'm going to be in the common room you know." He told me.
"Are you going back to see Dad?"
"Yes and I'll tell him you weren't exactly feeling well."
"I bloody well hope you weren't going to tell him the truth! I would probably kill you!" I joked.
"Then I'm definitely lying! I wouldn't want my sister locked up in Azkaban! Then again …"
"Hey!" I slapped his arm playfully. And he grinned widely. "Thanks for the advice; I'll owl Ginny as soon as I can, maybe listening to your advice is a good thing."
"Have a nice victory party!" He wished as he turned and started walking back towards the Quidditch pitch.
"Thanks!" I said while making my way back up to the castle.
The hallways were practically deserted apart from the odd couple sneaking off together. When I saw them it made my heart ache. I wanted to go and find James and apologise but I wasn't going to be the one who went crawling back after each argument. Yep, my pride got the better of me. As I thought about what happened I realised this was the first time I had cried since we were blown back in time after the whole encounter with my mum. I had nearly reached the portrait of the Fat Lady when I felt someone grab my hand, I knew who it was.
"James…" I warned but I was cut off.
"Casey, will you please just listen to me?" He pleaded as he pulled me down a side passage we both knew too well.
"What?" I snapped.
"Listen, I shouldn't have said that." He apologised. "I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."
I just glared back at him. "You practically said I wasn't being a good girlfriend!"
"I got carried away, but why don't you want me to take the offer?" James asked.
"It's not that I don't want you to take it." I replied. "It's just that I want you to think about what it means. You'll be leaving home in September, you'll be travelling a lot and maybe you won't want…"
I was cut off by his lips on mine. It was a quick but tender kiss.
"What was that for?" I said once he had released me.
"If you think for one second that I won't want to continue seeing you if I become a Quidditch player, you're wrong." He stated.
"That's one thing I'm worried about." I confessed.
"I love you Casey Abigail Finnigan." He leaned in and kissed me again. "I'm not going to let you go that easily."
"I love you too James Sirius Potter."
"Now why don't we go and join our victory party?" He held out his hand.
"I'd be glad to." I answered as I took his hand.
We smiled at each other as we came out of the passage way and headed for the common room.