Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter
Slytherin's Potter
Chapter Six: The Quidditch Cup Tension
Lily sighed as she sat in a compartment with Lola and Jace. They were all on their way back to Hogwarts. The rest of Christmas Break had been relatively quiet for Lily. No fights had been started, and Lily mostly just hung around Louis during Christmas. Lily had gone back to her grandparents' house more often so that she could help her grandpa fix the bike. It was turning out to be a lot of fun, even if they hardly knew what they were doing.
But Lily was happy to be back on the train, and was very happy to see both of her friends again. She'd sent them both a gift, sending Lola a set of potions for her hair, since she always complained about it in the morning, and then she sent Jace a big box of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products. The gifts she got back were fantastic. Lola had sent her a green journal, which Lily had taken to using several times a week. And Jace had sent her a new portable wireless, and Lily had taken to listening to it every chance she got. They had it playing in their compartment as soon as the train had left.
But Lily's favorite gift she'd gotten from a friend was what she was wearing now. It was a headband with a lily attached to the side. The lily was a pale white, and the headband color changed every few minutes. But that wasn't all. With the headband, she'd also gotten a little stuffed, silver snake. Lily loved them, and had sent Scorpius Malfoy something great in return. She'd sent him a very elegant, forest green silk jacket. And as a bonus, she had gone to Madam Malkin's, and had her stitch a silver snake on the back.
"I'm not sure if I wanna go back to school," Jace mumbled. "You know they're just going to pack homework onto us before the exams."
"I doubt it will be that hard," Lola said with a roll of her eyes.
"For smart people," Jace countered. "But I'm practically failing half of my classes."
"Don't worry, Jace," Lily assured, "we'll make sure you get through it."
"Speak for yourself," Lola muttered, flipping to the next page of her magazine.
Lily bit back a laugh at the glare Jace sent toward Lola. But an argument was saved as Christian walked into the compartment.
"Hello, you three. How were your Christmases?" he asked, taking a seat next to Jace.
"Boring," Jace replied.
"Normal," Lola mumbled.
"Awkward," Lily answered. Then they all laughed. "How about you, Christian?"
Christian shrugged. "Not too bad. My little brother followed me around, I got a lot of presents, and I was forced to go to a bunch of adult parties so that I could hang out with a bunch of younger kids."
Jace whistled. "Sucks to be you."
"How'd it turn out with your family, Lil?" Christian asked.
Lily hummed a moment before explaining. "Well, my brothers and Hugo still hate me, Rose doesn't want to see me anymore, the others ignored me, and the only person on my side is Louis. So . . . better than expected I guess," she laughed.
"Sounds like it went well enough," Christian joked.
The compartment door slid open again, and two older Gryffindor boys walked in. "Well, Todd, it looks like we did find a compartment," one of the boys commented.
"Yeah, we just gotta clean the trash out of it," the other replied with a grin. Both boys laughed.
All four Slytherins glared at the Gryffindors. Lola closed her magazine, sitting up, Jace straightened up, and Lily stood from her seat. Her glare was the meanest. "Get out," she hissed.
Both boys grinned wider, looking as if they would soon begin to laugh. The one who had spoken first stepped closer, a swagger in his stance. "And are four little first years gunna make us?" he taunted.
Even though she was still glaring, Lily grinned. She'd been raised around older boys, and knew how to handle them in a fight, whether it was verbal or physical. She stepped closer too, her head just reaching his chest. To other girls, he would have been intimidating, but to Lily, he was just another arrogant jerk.
"Do I have to?" she asked, keeping her tone calm.
She could see a bit of surprise in the boy's eyes, but he was still more cocky than anything. "You really think that you can?" he laughed.
Lily thought back to the one piece of advice her Aunt Audrey had given her when fighting boys, and had decided to take it. With quick precision, Lily slammed her knee up, smashing into the older boy's groin. Said boy let out a high-pitched moan, his hands moving to protect himself as he fell to his knees.
"You crazy bitch!" the other boy exclaimed angrily. He began to pull out his wand.
"What are you all doing in here?" a voice from behind the other boy demanded. They all turned to see Ginger Pritchard standing at the door to the compartment.
"Sis," Lola sighed in relief.
Ginger was glaring at the two Gryffindor boys. "I said, what is going on?" she demanded again.
The boy still standing sneered as he nodded toward Lily. "She kneed him in the dick," he growled, not bothering to be modest.
Ginger's face was twisted in disgust as she looked at the boy kneeling on the floor. Then she looked at Lily. "Good job." She looked back at the boy. "Well, I'll tell you what I saw. I saw two older boys coming in here, thinking that they could kick out four kids that were already in there. So how about I give you both detentions for the next week?"
"That's bull!" the boy argued.
"Well, Kirke, when I care, I'll let you know," Ginger retorted. "Now both of you have ten seconds to get about before it's two weeks."
The Kirke boy lifted his friend, and with harsh glares, the boys left the compartment, the other boy groaning painfully. Ginger watched after them.
"Thanks, sis," Lola thanked.
Ginger looked back at her sister. In no way did they look like sisters. Ginger was tall for a girl, and her hair was a coppery color. Her narrow eyes were a forest green, and her skin wasn't as pale as Lola's, but instead was quite a bit tan.
Ginger shrugged. "It was no problem. Kirke and Sloper are known to be asses toward younger Slytherins. It's really unattractive, I've been wanting to knee Sloper for a while now, so I'm glad that someone did."
Lily moved to sit back down. "I wasn't going to let two dumb Gryffindors try to intimidate me," she replied.
Ginger smirked. "Glad to hear it, Lily Luna." Lily rolled her eyes at the nickname. She's pretty much forgotten about it over the holidays. "You kiddies behave now," Ginger teased. She closed the compartment door, and they could hear her heels click as she walked away.
"Thank Merlin your sister came," Christian said to Lola. "That could have been very ugly."
"Just like you, huh, Lola?" Jace teased.
Lola kicked his knee, making him nurse it for the rest of the train ride to school.
Within the next few days the news about Lily kneeing Harper Sloper in the groin had spread through the whole student body. The Slytherins were the only ones that seemed to tell the real stories, while kids from the other Houses had twisted the story, talking of how she had brutally attacked him, or how she had knocked him out. Now some kids seemed a bit terrified around her, but Lily ignored them. What Lily didn't ignore though were the praises that she was constantly getting from other Slytherins, especially the older ones. She'd even been invited to an older Slytherins' party.
"You should go!" Lola had insisted. "No one but fifth years and up are allowed to go, with the occasional fourth year! A first year has never gone!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "There's no point in going. I'm just going to end up hanging around a bunch of older kids, who are intent on getting smashed, and then I'll get to watch one or perhaps two of them throw up their vital organs because they can't handle firewhiskey. It's pointless. I'd rather spend time with people I actually like," she remarked.
Jace laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders. "And we love you for that fact."
But on the night of the Slytherin party, Lily didn't go straight to sleep. Instead, she journeyed to the kitchens, and got a few snacks to eat. Then she sat in front of the fireplace alone in the common room. She had brought down a book as well. It was one that Lily had recently grown to appreciate. It was all about a pureblood wizard falling in love with a Muggle girl. And how because of that one thing, his entire family turned against him and hated him. Lily could empathize with that part.
"Out for a bit of midnight reading?" Lily jumped, startled. She turned around to see Scorpius Malfoy descending the stairs. "Can't sleep?" he asked.
Lily grinned, marking her place in the book as she closed it. "No, I just didn't want to. I'm not really tired. You?"
Scorpius came around to sit next to her. "Same I guess. I just didn't feel like going to sleep." They were silent for a moment, but then Scorpius looked at her. "So, I never got to ask, how was your Christmas?"
Lily shrugged. "I guess it wasn't terrible. I talked with Louis, hung out with my grandpa, and did my best to avoid the rest of my cousins, since they pretty much all hate me." Lily smiled wryly at him. "And yours?"
Scorpius grinned. "Well, it was ok, at least when other were there. Otherwise, I mainly just fought with my grandfather."
Lily raised a brow. "Really? Why?"
"We always fight," he replied. "He thinks that I don't represent the Malfoy name well, because I don't spout out pureblood supremacy, and he thinks that I don't respect him. But I'll honestly tell him that I don't respect him."
Lily chuckled. "You don't like him?"
"No. I can't stand him. And now he hates that I've accepted a Potter into Slytherin," Scorpius teased.
"He doesn't like me?" Lily asked with a grin.
"Nope, so I wore the jacket you gave me for the rest of the break," Scorpius laughed. Lily laughed with him.
"So you'll do anything to annoy him?" Lily questioned.
He nodded. "Yup. You wanna help?" he asked.
Lily smiled. "What would I have to do?"
Scorpius shrugged. "You wanna come over during summer break?" he asked.
Lily's smile grew. "Sure. Why not."
Scorpius smirked. "Great." He looked at her face, and then glanced up. "So you like the gift I sent?" he asked.
My hand involuntarily, and I touched the lily on her headband. Then she looked back at him. "I love it. It was my favorite gift this year."
"I'm glad, because I had a hard time picking something out, so I decided to make something," he mentioned.
Lily's eyes widened. "You made this?"
He chuckled. "Well, I bought the headband and the lily. I had my mum help me attach the lily to the headband, and my dad suggested a spell that would make it change colors. So I guess my parents made it really. But it was my idea if that helps."
Lily leaned forward and hugged him, her cheeks turning pink. She felt Scorpius tense a bit, but then he relaxed and hugged her back. Lily pulled back and smiled at him. "Thank you. It's the best gift I've ever gotten."
Scorpius actually smiled this time, his own cheeks turning pink as well. He ruffled her hair a little. "No problem, Lily. You deserve nothing less than something great," he murmured.
Days kept passing, and Lily was soon growing accustom to ignoring her family around the halls, Louis being the exception. When the game against Ravenclaw came around, Slytherin crushed them, 510-180. The more times Lily caught the Snitch, the more popular she became among the Slytherins, and the more hated she became to kids from other Houses.
When the time for Easter Break came around, Lily stayed at school. And once she heard that most of her family was going home, she was relieved that she wouldn't have to work to avoid people. All of her friends stayed too, so they were practically free from fights. But since the exams were approaching, teachers had packed homework on their students, and half of the break was spent doing their work. And for Lily, a fourth of her time was put into Quidditch practice. Aaron had demanded that all the players stay at school, and they practiced almost every day of the break. Every night, Lily went to bed exhausted.
When the break ended, Aaron stepped the practices up. They had them even more often, and they lasted two hours longer. Their last game against Hufflepuff was coming close, and Aaron wanted a big lead against them. Gryffindor and Slytherin were top candidates for the cup, but Aaron had confidence, because Gryffindor killed Hufflepuff, and Slytherin had beaten Gryffindor earlier that year. But the problem was that Gryffindor still had one match left against Ravenclaw, and even Aaron couldn't believe that Gryffindor would lose the game. But what matter was how much they won by.
When the whole team sat, dressed and ready, in the locker room before the game, Aaron paced around them.
"What's the game plan, Captain?" Raven Bole asked.
Aaron sighed. "Ok. I want us to play like never before. Once we'd knocked out Potter in our first match, we got cocky. With Ravenclaw, we were lazy. For this game, I want us to be intense every second of the match. And, Potter," he addressed, "I don't want you to catch the Snitch until we have at least 500 hundred points. Until then, just keep the other Seeker from catching the Snitch. I don't care if you have to play dirty to do it."
Lily nodded. "You got it."
"Bole, Goyle," both boys looked at Aaron, "ever so often, try and take out their Keeper and Seeker. Bole, you go for the Keeper. Your aim is better, and I want the Keeper out more. Goyle, you take the Seeker. Now, don't make that your main priority, but ever now and then, take a shot at them. Got it."
"No problem."
"You got it, bro."
"Good. Now, Chasers, I want an impressive amount of teamwork. And, Montague, as Keeper, I want you at the top of your game. I want you to be so good that they get no more than ten goals past you," Aaron stated. "Am I clear?"
"Totally."
"Let's do this!"
"We'll crush them!"
"Hufflepuff's no match for us!"
Aaron smiled at the enthusiasm. "Then let's get out there!"
They all got up, shuffling into a line. Aaron led them out onto the field. They ignored the boos from other teams, keeping their composure. Lily scanned the Hufflepuff Seeker. She was tiny and thin, the usual Seeker build. She looked like maybe a second year. Lily worried a bit, wondering how fast she was.
But once Lily was in the air and playing the game, she didn't focus on how big he was, just on how good his vision was. She kept her eyes on him, yet also searched the area around him for the Snitch. She wasn't going to get caught in the same trick she'd played on Albus.
"Bole takes a shot at the Hufflepuff Keeper, Paxton Smith . . . and he dodges the Bludger, but can't make the save against Goyle's shot. The score is now ten to zero, with Slytherin in the lead," Meredith announced. "Paxton throws the Quaffle to Grace Macmillan, who swerves past Adrian Flint and makes her way down the field. But she's intercepted by Aaron Goyle, who quickly loses the Quaffle to Natalya Whitby. Whitby zooms down the field with Scorpius Malfoy on her tail."
Lily did her best to listen as she watched out for the Snitch and the other Seeker. She groaned when she heard Whitby score a goal. The game kept going, and luckily, Slytherin starting pulling farther and farther away with the lead. Lily had seen the Snitch a couple of times, and had led the other Seeker away from it. She'd dodged a few Bludgers that Lars had hit when she was too close to the Hufflepuff Seeker. Bole and Lars were very intent on their given goals, along with knocking the Chasers. Already, Bole had knocked one of the Hufflepuff Chasers, Gary Fleet, off of his broom, and he was carried off of the field. But then the moment Aaron had wanted came.
"And Malfoy has the Quaffle, and he passes it to Flint, and Flint passes it to Goyle. Goyle throws it back to Flint, and Flint tosses it to Malfoy, who kicks it at the goal. Paxton is there all ready to catch it . . . but a Bludger knocks him off the broom and toward the ground, and Malfoy makes the shot! Two hundred and thirty to eighty, Slytherin in the lead!" Meredith called.
Lily stopped flying to watch as Paxton Smith crashed to the ground, out cold. She cheered with the rest of the team as he was carried away.
"The game looks bleak for Hufflepuff. But wait! Has Rickett seen the Snitch?" Meredith almost screamed.
Lily flipped around to look at tiny Kimberly Rickett, and saw that she was swiftly moving toward a glint of gold. Lily flew after her, thankful that her broom was one of the fastest models. But no matter what, she could only catch up to the tail of Rickett's broom. Then Lily heard the wind whistling even louder. Then something hit her shoulder.
Lily hissed angrily as the Bludger connected with her shoulder, muttering curses. But the Bludger continued on its path, and knocked into the back of to Rickett's head. She went limp, and slowly, Lily watched her start to fall. Going on instinct, Lily sped up close to Rickett's slowing broom, and caught her Quidditch robe's sleeve, and held on tight, pulling her back up. Slowly, Lily led her back down to the ground, where Professors Macmillan and Bell were rushing over to help. When Lily got off of her broom, she kept Rickett propped up.
"Is she ok?" Professor Macmillan asked.
"Just knocked out," Lily replied. Professor Bell conjured up a stretcher, and Professor Macmillan and Lily loaded her onto it.
"Thank you, Miss Potter," Professor Bell said.
Lily ignored her blush. "It's no problem. Something any decent person would do." Without another comment, Lily remounted her broom and took off back into the air. She got back into the game, listening for a score.
"Malfoy's got the Quaffle, he passes it to Flint, but it's intercepted by Whitby. She's flanked by Flint and Goyle, Goyle knocks it out of her hand, and throws it back to Malfoy, who takes the shot and makes it," Meredith commented. "The score is now 340 to 80, Slytherin dominating the game."
The game kept going, and Hufflepuff was in bad shape. They had lost their Keeper, Seeker, and one of their Chasers. Lily circled above the game, watching every goal Slytherin scored as Hufflepuff to just get the ball in their possession. When they got 500, Lily decided to wait until they had a perfect 500 ahead of the Hufflepuff team. Once they hit 580, Lily started to search. She saw the small glint of gold down below, and Lily dove down after it. The Snitch continued down, not going up or turning, but just straight down. When Lily got close to a foot above the ground, the Snitch kept close to the ground, as if it was trying to hide in the grass. Lily reached her hand out for it, her knuckles scraping across the ground. She felt the Snitch in her hand, and her foot caught the ground, and she spun off the broom.
Lily crashed to the ground, a deja-vu of catching the firework earlier in the year. She kept her fist clenched, keeping a hold of the Snitch. The pain she felt was pretty dull, a lot less than the last time she crashed. As she lay on her back, she held her fist up for everyone to see.
"Potter has the Snitch! Slytherin beats Hufflepuff, 760 to 80!" Meredith groaned.
As Lily got up, the rest of the team started to descend and land around her. Scorpius helped her stand back up, and Aaron was congratulating the two Beaters. Then he turned to the rest of them.
"You guys did awesome. Exactly what I said." Aaron grinned. "I think we've got the Quidditch Cup in the bag."
The next day, Aaron had posted a score sheet on the bulletin board in the Slytherin common room. So far Slytherin had a major lead after their big win against Hufflepuff. They were beating second place by 1030 points. They were beating Gryffindor by 1150. No one could see Gryffindor getting that many points in one game. And to be sure, Aaron had demanded that every Slytherin player attend the game next week.
For that entire week, it was extremely tense. The violence between some Houses, Slytherin and Gryffindor, increased by the second. Lily and Hugo exploded at each other at least once a day. There was news of a fight between the Houses every day. And for the first, Slytherin had Ravenclaw on its side.
The day before the match, both Lily and Scorpius had walked into dinner late after a detention. They sat down by the others, who had waited for them, and started to eat.
"Gryffindor?" Lana asked.
"They're poor losers. They know they can't win," Scorpius muttered.
"It was a poor argument, so they turned it into a fight," Lily explained.
Scorpius started to laugh. "They even tried to attack how Lily helped Rickett down to the ground after she got knocked out!"
Lola looked astonished. "How could they attack that? That was really honorable!"
Lily rolled her eyes. "They thought I was being a suck up. And how I didn't talk to Rickett after the game supposedly proved it." She gave an unladylike snort. "As if that was why. I didn't talk to her because I don't know her. What the heck would I even say?"
"She should have thanked you though," Jace remarked.
Lily shrugged. "That's her business. I really don't care."
"It makes you feel uncomfortable, doesn't it?" Scorpius teased.
Lily glared at him, her cheeks turning pink. "Shut up, Scorpius," she hissed.
Scorpius only smiled and laughed.
When the day of the last match of the season came around, the tension was at an all time high. Lily walked to the game with the team, which was joined by Lana, Lola, and Jace. When they got to the stands, Gryffindor seemed to be doing everything they could to encourage their team. They had signs and banners for each player. Scorpius had scoffed and rolled his eyes at the signs, calling them unneeded.
When the game actually started, Lily forgot all about the rivalry. Instead, she was focused on actually watching her family and their friends play. The only time she'd ever watched them, and not played herself, was when she was younger, and they all said she was too little. She'd forgotten how amazing they were. Like Rose, who wasn't a big fan, was barely intercepted by the other players. Or how Lucy, so thin and tiny, could play as an excellent Keeper, and could bat away a Quaffle in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, Lily felt a pang of longing and envy. For the first time since she was a little girl, Lily wanted to play with her family again. She wanted to play alongside her brothers and cousins. She wanted to have that family teamwork. But inside she knew that she would never have that again.
"That was a foul!" Scorpius groaned. "Both Weasley and Potter were near the goals! That's Stooging! You can't do that!"
"Calm down, the Keeper blocked the shot," Raven Bole replied.
Hours later, the game was still going, and neither team had more than three hundred points. Both teams had practiced their defenses very well.
"They need to just give up," Lars commented with a yawn.
"Well, Davies is looking a little more alert, so I think he's given it up," Adrian commented.
Lily looked up at the Seekers, and Davies was looking for the Snitch a little harder than he had been. And Albus was keeping his eye on him.
"I'm not surprised. They can't catch us, and they are in the lead," Lana remarked.
"Wait! Looks like Potter gave up too!" Jace exclaimed, pointing toward the sky. Albus was zooming through the air, and Lily caught sight of the gold glint he was after. Within seconds, he caught it, signaling the end of the game, Gryffindor winning.
"Gryffindor wins!" Meredith cheers. "The score ends with four hundred and seventy points for Gryffindor, and three hundred and fifty points for Ravenclaw!"
It was the Slytherins that cheered the loudest. The headmaster came over the megaphone. "Well, I know that the Slytherin team is here, so will the team come down to the field please?" Professor Brown asked.
The rowdy team made their way down to the pitch, celebrating the entire way. Once they were on the field, Professor Brown was on the pitch, the cup in his hands. Professor Slughorn was standing next to him, beaming proudly. The team lined up in front of him.
"I proudly pronounce Slytherin the winners of the Quidditch Cup," Professor Brown announced loudly.
He handed the cup to Aaron, who held it proudly above his head. Then with a grin, he passed it down the line of the team. Lily was the last one to have it in her hands, and Aaron boosted her up onto his shoulders. Lily held the cup up high. And suddenly, she remembered the story her dad had told the three kids about when he first won the Quidditch Cup at school, and of how great it felt.
She finally understood that feeling.