(A/N) Sorry this took so long. The rest of the chapters are already written, so there should hopefully be no more long waits, like there were for chapters six and seven. Sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others; I didn't have much time, but didn't want to make you wait until next weekend.

Chapter 7: Quidditch Tryouts

That night, a little while after dinner, I went back to Professor Dumbledore's office. During my first meeting with him, he told me he would like to keep meeting with me, and that I would have free reign to come to his office whenever I wanted. He would alert me whenever the password changed, so that I would always have access. When I got to the stone gargoyle that guarded his office, I spoke the password, "Cramoisy," and went up the spiral staircase behind it once it jumped aside. When I sat down across from Dumbledore, he asked how my week had been, and I told him my classes that week, and tea with Neville on Saturday and with Hagrid that afternoon. When I finished talking, Dumbledore started asking me more questions about my abilities. He asked me how my classes were going, what we were studying and how hard the classes were. When he was finished asking me questions, he explained that he would be expanding upon my classes, and teaching my harder magic. During that lesson, he had me perform various spells, so he could judge where I was and what he should teach me in later lessons.

After about an hour of this, he dismissed me, and I headed back for my dormitory. As I walked, I noticed that there were no students wandering through the halls; curfew must have passed while I was working with Dumbledore. I sped up a little, not wanting to get caught out of bed after hours, but there wasn't much I could do except hope no one saw me.

Unfortunately, Mr. Porter found me just a couple minutes later. Although he was normally nice and easy-going, Mr. Porter looked so furious that he looked like a different person.

"Care to explain why you are out of bed, Ms. Evans?" he asked, in a dangerously quiet voice.

"I was working with Professor Dumbledore. Curfew passed while I was working with him without either of us noticing." I explained.

Mr. Porter looked suspicious for a minute, before grabbing my robes and dragging me back towards Dumbledore's office. When we got there, Dumbledore looked surprised to see us.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I caught Ms. Evans out of bed, Professor. She claimed she was working with you."

"I'm sorry, Mundus. This appears to be my fault. Yes, Ms. Evans was working with me, so there is to be no punishment for her being out of bed after hours. This will continue to happen, as after dinner is the most convenient time for her to come. So long as she is on her way to or from my office, you can assume she is allowed out of bed."

Reluctantly, Mr. Porter let go of my robes, and I scampered out of the room. This time, I almost ran back to Gryffindor tower, not wanting to get caught by any of the other teachers on patrol.

The next morning, an announcement appeared on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room announcing that Quidditch try-outs would be held that Saturday, September 15. When he finished reading the announcement, Hugo looked over at Lily, who had just finished reading it as well.

Seeing the expression on her face, he said, "Uh-uh! You're not allowed to, Luna. First-years aren't allowed on house teams."

"Dad got on his first year! There's no reason I shouldn't be on the team!"

"Just because Uncle Harry bent the rules doesn't mean you can too!"

Nothing any of us said could persuade Lily to not try out. Albus, Rose, Scorpius, and Casey heard about her plan to try out, and spent all of lunch trying to convince her it was a bad idea. When they couldn't convince her either, I went back to Dumbledore's office and mentioned it to him, hoping he could either grant her wish or make her see reason. The next day, Professor Dumbledore called Lily to his office, along with Professor Cantamen and Professor Longbottom. He was hoping that Professor Cantamen and Professor Longbottom might be better at persuading her than he would be because Cantamen was her Head of House and Longbottom was a family friend. The three of them tried to explain to Lily why the first-year rule was in place and why it couldn't be bent just for her. Professor Longbottom sent an owl to Harry and Ginny, but even they could not convince their daughter to not try out.

When the day of try-outs arrived, Lily resolutely marched to the broom shed to borrow a Comet 360 before continuing to the Quidditch Pitch with everyone else who was trying out. Feeling as though there was nothing else we could do, Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I followed her to the Quidditch Pitch to watch from the stands. Rose, Scorpius, and Casey sat with us because Albus was trying out for seeker, the position he had played the year before.

Andrew Graham, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, started splitting everyone up by the position they were trying out for. Lily wanted to be a chaser, so she joined Casey in the largest group, which had about fifteen students. Albus joined a small group of two other students for seeker try-outs. The try-outs for a beater were first. Because Andrew was a beater, he had to fly with the students trying out to see who he worked the best with. When he had chosen a fifth year named Alec Branch, the chaser try-outs started. Lily was one of the better fliers in the group, and was almost chosen for one of the three chaser spots, until Andrew learned that she was a first-year, and therefore ineligible for the team. He ended up choosing Casey, Shelby Keefer, and Hannah Halpern as the chasers. Hannah was a seventh year who had been on the team since her second year. Shelby was a second year who was new to the team. When the chasers were announced, Lily came fuming over to where we were sitting.

"I flew better than Shelby! I should have gotten on the team instead of her. The only reason she got on was because she's a second year and I'm a first year."

"Why did you try out? You knew you wouldn't get on," Will asked, trying to be reasonable.

But Lily wasn't being reasonable. "They can't do that. They have to let me on! I flew better than her!"

We kept trying to calm her down, but nothing we said was doing anything. After about an hour, try-outs were done after a seventh year named Ryan Toney became the Keeper and Albus got his spot as Seeker back. When Lily saw the assembled team, she ran at Andrew, screaming, looking like she was about to kill him. Before she got far, Casey shot a Stunning Spell at her.

"We need to get her to the Hospital Wing. Madame Aeger can give her a Calming Draught."

Agreeing with her advice, Breanne, Will, Hugo, and I carried her to Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Madame Aeger asked, astonished, as she saw Lily being carried in unconscious.

"She decided she wanted to try out for the Quidditch team even though she's a first year and isn't allowed on. She flew better than one of the girls who got on the team, but wasn't allowed on because she's a first year. She got quite hysterical. She tried to attack Andrew Graham, so Casey stunned her and told us to bring her here for a Calming Draught," I explained as we laid her on the bed.

Madame Aeger nodded once before bustling off to her office to grab the Calming Draught. When she returned a second later, she woke Lily up. Immediately, Lily continued screaming about how she should be on the team, and how Andrew, along with all the teachers, was just trying to thwart her. When Madame Aeger tried to give her the Calming Draught, she started thrashing around, almost managing to knock the flask from Madame Aeger's hand. Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I managed to hold her down so Madame Aeger could give her the draught. When Lily calmed down some, Madame Aeger also set a Cheering Charm on her. After just a few minutes, Lily was smiling again, so the five of us left the Hospital Wing.

(A/N) Please, please review. I love people putting the story on alert, but I love reviews even more.

Next chapter: Christmas Break!