Emily braced herself. She watched the Ravenclaw chasers zoom around, desperately trying to get the Quaffle from James. She heard a bludger coming and looked over her shoulder in time to see Sirius basically save her from a broken nose.
"That's why I'm the best Beater, Truman!" Sirius bellowed to the Ravenclaw Beater who had sent the bludger in Emily's direction.
"Thanks, Sirius," Emily called. A Ravenclaw Chaser, Yvonne Strathorn, tried to score but Emily caught the Quaffle first. Smirking in a gloating way, she tossed the Quaffle to an expectant James. Emily chewed her lip.
"YEAH JAMES!" she hollered when he scored. Emily saw Lily break into an involuntary grin down in the stands.
The game went on. Tiberius and James each scored two more goals. Yvonne had the Quaffle again and was zipping furiously toward Emily, dead set determination spreading across her smirk. Emily felt a bludger whiz by her ear and turned to see what had happened.
"EMILY!" Tiberius's alarmed warning came at her. Emily's head whipped around in time to see the Quaffle in mid-air, feet away from the hoop. Emily sped over and grasped out, her fingers clutching to it literally inches in front of the goal.
The roar came first. Emily had been part of the roar before but damn it felt good to have people screaming her name and thundering, "GRYFFINDOR!".
Emily flew down to the ground. Sirius was the second one down. He was hollering happily. He picked up Emily by her forearms and spun her around before running off to jump and pound on James back in a victory rush. Emily felt the arms of all of her teammates around her as they huddled together, cheering loudly.
Back in the common room, Lily hugged Emily fiercely. Remus, also grinning but much quieter than everyone else, hugged Emily tightly but protectively. Emily smiled. Tiberius also hugged Emily. Emily felt dizzy with happiness.
"Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" Everyone chanted over and over. Remus, Sirius, James, Lily and Emily were the last ones in the common room when Danielle and Jamie walked through the portrait hole. They pursed their lips when they saw the group in the common room. Danielle pushed her auburn hair back.
"Well. I never thought I'd see the Yank with the token muggle or marauders," Danielle rolled her eyes and then smiled lingeringly at Sirius.
"Never thought I'd expect to see you at Hogwarts the sixth year. Don't they have a rule against sluts once you hit sixteen?" Emily shot back, earning supportive laughs from Sirius and James. Jamie lost the color in her cheeks while Danielle turn a nasty, blotchy red. Danielle snorted and she and Jamie walked up to the seventh year dormitories. Emily thought about it and last year she'd never have expected to be best friends with James, Remus, Sirius or Lily. She was never as close to the prior friends - Hanna Montgomery, Dana Lyle and Jessie Non- she had.
"That was a good one, Em," Sirius laughed.
"Thanks," Emily smirked proudly.
Yeah, Emily much preferred Lily and the Marauders to Hanna, Dana and Jessie.