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The next couple of weeks passed in a blur for James and his friends before it was suddenly time for the first Quidditch Match of the Season: Gryffindor verses Slytherin. As Captain, James was pleased that Gryffindor had to play Slytherin first. They had been pretty dominant in the Hogwarts Qudditch Cup and were arguably a tough team to play against. But as a player, James had always hated that they played Slytherin first. Slytherin was a tough team to play against and as it was the first game of the year, no one had any idea how strong either team were and that was always a worry.
James had shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of food into his mouth before he headed down to the pitch before the rest of his team. As he stepped out into the Hogwarts grounds, he smiled, the weather was good. There was a slight breeze and the air was cold but it was sunny and there didn't look to be any chance of rain. It was the type of weather that James had been hoping for.
"Good weather…"
James spun around to face Kitty Wood, "Hey…what're you doing out here so early? You're not trying to sabotage us are you?"
Kitty laughed and James noticed that her ponytail swayed as she did so, "No…I don't need to sabotage you…Ravenclaw is gonna win the cup…"
James rolled his eyes, "In your dreams Wood…"
Kitty smiled and slapped him on the arm playfully, "But actually…I came out for a run…and to get out of the craziness that is the Ravenclaw tower…"
"Crazy? Ravenclaw? Never…"
"Oh hush…we know how to be wild…when we want to be…"
"Yeah? What's going on?"
"Izzy and Dex broke up…and I have no idea why so don't ask…Nat seems to think that Dex cheated on Izzy but Dex wouldn't do something like that…"
James raised an eyebrow, "I didn't even know they were dating…how long?"
Kitty shrugged and tucked a brown curl behind her ear, "About a year…and everyone's taking sides…they were fighting most of last night too apparently…well until your cousin snapped at them as she was studying…"
"Rosie?"
Kitty rolled her eyes, "Unless you have another cousin in Ravenclaw at the moment that no one knows about…yeah…Rose…"
James grinned, "Ooh…you are feisty this morning…"
Kitty grinned, "I'm letting you warm up for you battle of words with Barr…"
James laughed, "No…you can actually form a sentence…Barr is…well…he's not the fastest broom in the race…"
"No…No he isn't…anyway…I better be letting you go give what I'm sure will be a rousing emotional inspirational speech…"
"Haha…I'm not your father…no one can make a speech quite like he can…"
Kitty rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately that's true…and no one can make him stop one when he starts…good luck today Potter…"
"Thanks Wood…"
James watched as Kitty picked up the pace of her run. He watched her svelte figure jog down the track on what James knew to be a loop circuit back up to the tower but he guessed that she would head straight down to the Quidditch pitch once she was done. James couldn't help but watch her petite frame, that was enhanced in the jogging clothes that she wore move out of sight, her curly brown ponytail swishing from side to side.
James jumped when he felt a hand being placed on his arm. He glanced to the side to see the smirking faces of Callie and Jasper.
"What?"
Callie grinned and tugged on his arm so that they could enter the changing rooms, "Nothing…nothing…"
"Seriously…what?"
Jasper smirked as the door swung to a close behind them, "Checking out Wood are we?"
James groaned and ran a hand through his hair, "How much did you see?"
Callie laughed as she tied her blonde hair into a high ponytail, "You light up like a Christmas tree when she started talking to you…right to you staring at her arse as she ran down the track…of which she has a pretty great one so I don't blame you…"
Jasper raised his eyebrow and questioned before James could reply, "Great what?"
Callie grinned, "Arse…"
"You've been checking out Wood's arse?" Jasper questioned in surprise.
Callie rolled her eyes, "As girls we can appreciate how hot each other is…and Kitty is hot…I know you both agree with me…just because you guys don't appreciate how hot each other is doesn't mean that as girl we don't…"
Jasper raised an eyebrow once more, "You think we're hot?"
"And you don't think you're hot? And anyway…neither of you are as hot as Brandon…"
"Brandon?"
James rolled his eyes at the pair and answered Jasper's question, "Barrett…Ravenclaw keeper…Langley's best mate…speaking off did you know that Langley was dating Isabelle Henerson…Natalie Britt's apparently accusing him of cheating on her on something like that…"
Callie turned around in surprise at the information, "Langley cheated on her? With who?"
James shrugged, "No idea if he actually did or whether it's just Britt causing trouble…but Kitty said that all of Ravenclaw is pretty thrown by the breakup…apparently my dear cousin Rose snapped at them last night cos they were arguing and she was studying…"
"Damn…I always assumed that it would be Henderson who cheated on Langley not the other way round…he's too good for her…"
"Huh?"
Callie shrugged, "Henderson has…er…made the rounds apparently…before she started dating Langley…she's close friends with Britt, Lyndsay and Wyatt…it was a shock when she started dating Langley…Langley's on the Quidditch team…he's prefect…he has like perfect grades…I remember Kitty and Brandon asking him whether it was good idea last year when they first got together…"
Jasper looked up as he pulled his sweatshirt over his head, "Wait…Wood and Barrett don't like Henderson?"
Callie shrugged, "Not from what I can gather…the Ravenclaw's in our year are pretty shut off generally but from what I can figure out…Ravenclaw is pretty split…especially in our year…."
"So…will this help us defeat them?"
James and Callie both rolled their eyes at Jasper. They loved Jasper, they really did, but he had the emotional range of a teaspoon.
Callie shook her head, "Probably not…and as they are our last match everything will probably be sorted by then…and Kitty, Brandon and Langley are all close and they are the only ones on the Quidditch team…"
Jasper nodded as the rest of the Gryffindor team began to file in to the changing room, "Why do you call Wood and Barrett by their first names but Langley by his last…"
James rolled his eyes as Callie blushed, "It's because she's practically stalking Barrett…and girls have some weird sisterhood thing going on…and I'm guessing…like the rest of us she doesn't know Langley that well…"
"It's not stalking! He's good looking so it's not called stalking…it's pursuing…strongly pursuing…"
Lorcan Scammander rolled his eyes as he sat down on the bench next to James, "She talking about Barrett again?"
James just nodded before standing up while the rest of the team took their seats on the benches surrounding him.
"Okay guys…and girls…it's the first match of the season…and it's gonna be tough…Slytherin's team as you know has remained practically unchanged from last with the exception of a new Chaser…they're good…it's a tough team for our first match but I know that we can win…Goodwin and Barr are good beaters but they're not the sharpest…speed was their downfall last year and we'll just have to hope that it is this year two…Lor, Ly…you need to protect Dianna but also get to their team as well…Dianna…just focus on what you need to do and the twins will have your back…okay?"
Dianna nodded determinedly making James smile slightly. He loved that Dianna, despite being a third year, had the determined streak that scared him in Callie.
"Jazz…you know your job…let as few goals in as possible please…we need to get a good score in this match so that we can win the cup…James and Odem are strong Chasers…they've worked together for a couple of years now…this new girl…Lyra Parker…I saw her practicing with James…she's good…so watch out for her…Oscar…Callie…we need to score as many goals as possible before the Snitch is caught…the more points we have the better our chance of winning the Cup…look….we can do this…I know we can…so let's go win…"
The team quickly finished getting ready before grabbing their brooms, mounting them and flying onto the pitch.
"AND THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM…CAPTAIN POTTER, COLEMAN, NORTON, SCAMMANDER, SCAMMANDER, ADAMS AND THE NEW ADDITION MOSS…POTTER HAS GOT ONE HELL OF A TEAM…BUT THEN AGAIN SO HAS SANTOS…"
James and the Slytherin Captain Buck Santos shook hands before taking their respective positions as the whistle was blown and the balls released. James got first possession of the quaffle and quickly passed it to Oscar Norton while making his way towards the goals.
"AND COLEMAN HAS THE QUAFFLE…AND IT'S BACK TO POTTER….AND TO NORTON…WHO SHOOTS AND SCORES! 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINFOR…"
Unfortunately, after that first goal the Gryffindor and Slytherin's were pretty evenly matched on goal scoring with still no sign of the snitch. Both Jasper Adams and Buck Santos were doing their jobs as keepers, with neither set of chasers scoring many goals. But the game had so far been a clean one. There had only been a few minor injuries, a couple of broken fingers on either side that had been quickly bandaged up until the match finished and they could be fixed by magic.
James was pleased to note that hits from Barr and Goodwin had even been pretty minimal towards Dianna and that the Scammander twins were doing their job in protecting her from what could have been an onslaught on bludgers.
Then suddenly, out of the corner of his eye he spotted Dianna and the Slytherin Seeker a 6th year called Helena Gilbert race forward in pursuit of the snitch. James was impressed that Dianna was able to keep up with the Gilbert who had been the Slytherin seeker since her second year and whose mother had been the seeker on the Holyhead Harpies with James' mom. The rest of the action in the air came to halt as Dianna reached forward and grasped the tiny golden winged ball with her right hand before lifting it into the air triumphantly.
"AND MOSS CATCHES THE SNITCH AND GRYFINDOR WINS! 250 POINTS TO SLYTHERIN'S 100!"
James pumped his first in celebration before flying down to the field where the rest of the Gryffindor tea, were gathering around Dianna. James pulled her into a hug and spun her around, "Well done! You were amazing!"
"Thanks!"
James then let her go so that she could be congratulated by the rest of the team as James shook hands with the Slytherin team. When he shook hands with Helena Gilbert she grinned and pulled him close.
"She's good Jamie…really good…"
James nodded grinning, "I know…you weren't half bad either…"
Helena laughed, "Thanks…but I mean it…although I can't wait to see her face Johnston…"
James winced thinking of the current 6TH YEAR Hufflepuff Captain and Seeker, Oliver Johnston, "Luckily…that won't be until March…"
"Yeah…well…congrats Jamie…"
The pair separated and moved so that they could be congratulated by the other members of their houses. James slung his arm around Callie's shoulders when he reached her.
"Hey James! You played a great game…"
James smiled in greeting to the Ravenclaw, "Hey…"
"Thanks…Callie did too I suppose…"
Callie slapped James on the chest, "Chase was just telling me about the birthday party they're holding for Kitty tonight…"
"It's her birthday?"
Chase chuckled and shook his head, "Actually no…her birthday's actually Christmas day and she hates it…so every year since we found out Dex, Brandon, Jeremy, Ace and I have all picked a day at random to celebrate her birthday…and we picked today…forgetting that it was the first match of the season…you're welcome to come along if you want…"
James nodded, "Yeah…where and when?"
"Ravenclaw Tower…someone will be outside to at least help with the riddles…at we're starting at 7…so any time after that really…"
Callie nodded, "We'll be there…"
Chase nodded, "Good…and really you were both great…"
Chase then disappeared into the throng of people that had now made their way down onto the pitch. Callie grinned up at James, "You had no idea who he was did you?"
"He was Chase…"
"And you only knew that because I called him it…"
"Alright you got me…"
"He's Chase England…your cousin Mollie's ex…"
James raised an eyebrow, "Really? I knew she'd dated a Ravenclaw in our year but I didn't know who…they're still friends though, right?"
Callie nodded, "Yeah…broke up when Mollie realized that she liked to party and he like to study…but yeah they're still pretty good friends…he's pretty cool actually…a complete nerd…way more so than Brandon and Langley…"
The pair began the walk back into the changing room so that they could get showered and changed, "And who's Ace?"
"Do you know anyone outside of Gryffindor?"
James just shrugged.
"Ace is Adrianna McGee…Kitty's like only female friend…speaking of…are you ready to get your smooch on?"
"My what on?"
"Smooch…you and Kitty sitting in a tre G…your smooch on…"
James rolled his eyes, "We've had like one conversation outside of class…I doubt that that's going to happen…"
"But you want it to…"
James rolled his eyes, "Come on…let's get changed…"
"Ahh…avoidance….at least it's not denial…"
"Come on…"
Thanks for reading xx
