Chapter 7 – First Quidditch Match

September turned into October within no time at all, and Lily found herself now used to the castle. Most of her time was spent taking lessons, doing her homework and studying with Hugo, Eileen and Archie.

Lily found herself once again sitting at the Hufflepuff table on a Friday morning eating bacon and eggs and waiting for the post to arrive. She had not heard from her parents in several weeks, although she and Teddy had been keeping up a correspondence.

"Ergh I've got so much stuff to do!" a voice complained and Lily looked up with a mouthful of egg as Eileen slammed her books on the table and sat down. She pulled a bowl of food towards herself just as the owls overhead fluttered in.

"Just don't get any owl droppings in your mouth again," Archie smirked and he, Lily and Hugo roared with laughter. Eileen slapped him lightly on the arm as they continued. Eileen had a simple Barn Owl drop her a copy of the Daily Prophet, while Archie had several owls dropping off packages in front of him.

"What's the occasion?" Lily asked.

"My birthday is tomorrow."

"Happy Birthday!" Hugo grinned, squeezing tomato sauce onto his sausages.

"Thanks," Archie smiled, "should I open these now?"

"Oh go on," Eileen urged, "you only live once right?"

"True, true," Archie replied and then furiously began ripping the wrapping paper off of his presents. Lily looked up again and watched as her family owl soared into the Great Hall. She landed directly in front of Lily, a package and letter tied to her leg. Lily tilted her head and undid the package, and tried to give the owl some egg. She hooted impatiently and took off again.

"Guessing Uncle Harry sent something?" Hugo asked, examining the sneakoscope that Archie had just unwrapped.

Lily ripped open the envelope to the letter and opened it:

Dearest Lily,

Sorry for the delay. Both your father and I have been extremely busy over the past several weeks. He is working tirelessly at the Ministry to come up with leads to these Muggle attacks. He is optimistic he will find a lead – and don't let The Daily Prophet lead you astray my darling.

As for you not getting the Quidditch team, don't sweat it! In my first year, I spent it being emotionally manipulated by a very bad book – and I did not make the team until my fourth year when I replaced your father because he had stupidly gotten himself banned, so you will have plenty of opportunities. Plus, in our day first-years usually weren't allowed on the team (Harry was of course the notable exception). If you want to, I can teach you the Finbourgh Flick on the holidays so you can really master the manoeuvre.

Hope you are having fun, and say hi to your friends for us,

Love,
Mum and Dad

PS: Oh, I almost forgot! The pens arrived several days ago, so I will attach these to our owl. There's 100 in here, so have fun giving them to your mates – just don't let that Professor see.

Lily smiled as she placed the letter down and opened the package – in it were 100 beautifully crafted fountain pens. She noticed Archie peering over her shoulder, "ooh are they the pens?" he asked.

"Sure are," Lily answered, handing him a pen, "want one?"

"Yes, please!"

"Two sickles," Lily's face became serious as she extended her hand, Archie froze, his eyes widening in shock. Lily simply lost her serious facial expression and laughed at Archie, "just kidding! On the house my friend! Here you go guys," she handed Eileen and Hugo a pen each.

"Great! Thanks Cuz!" Hugo responded as he stared at his pen.

"Just don't let Zabini see," Lily said, and glanced up at the Staff Table. She spotted Professor Zabini eating his breakfast and having a seemingly animated discussion with Professor Quentin, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor.

The bell went off, signalling the beginning of classes and Lily stuffed her pen into her robes. She bade goodbye to Archie and Eileen while Hugo and her set off to Charms.

"Lily!" a voice called, "Lily Potter!"

"What?" Lily called as she turned, and saw the Gryffindor Quidditch captain chasing after her.

"You, pitch, 4pm sharp!"

"Why?" Lily asked, "I didn't make the team! And the game is in a week!"

"Hence why we need you. One of our Chasers cannot play next Saturday, we need you to play as a reserve Chaser. You interested?"

"Absolutely!" Lily chirped, her day which was going to be tainted by Transfiguration had lightened considerably.

"Pitch at 4pm sharp!" he repeated as he walked back the way he came. Lily had a spring in her step as she and Hugo made it to their lesson, but that spring died when the lesson began. In Charms, they were practicing the levitation charm, Wingardium Leviosa, and while nearly every first year had had no difficulty in casting it, Lily just could not do it.

"It might be your hand movement, make your hand movement nice and clean," Hugo said as the two of them sat together. Lily made the swish and flick movement careful and deliberate as she spat through her teeth "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The feather on which she had been practicing was hit with such a heavy propulsion that it fired rapidly and hit a Ravenclaw girl in the face. Lily darted over to her, along with Professor Flitwick.

"I'm so sorry!" Lily cried as she helped the girl up. The girl snarled at her, thrusting her feather back into Lily's hand and straightening her robes.

"Go away Potter," she snapped.

"Are you alright there Orla?" squeaked Professor Flitwick.

"Yes thank you sir," the girl named Orla responded, she had black hair but had colourless eyes. The same colourless eyes that she shared with -

"Your brother," Lily finished her thought out loud.

"What about Tiernan?" Orla snapped, eyeing Lily suspiciously.

"Nothing," Lily mumbled and walked back to her seat where Hugo glanced curiously at her.

"Extra homework for you Lily, you need to master that charm!" Professor Flitwick called as the bell rang. Lily gathered up her belongings and together she and Hugo made for the Transfiguration classroom before their afternoon off.

Lily remembered to tell her friends to hide the pens as they went in. The lesson passed without too much issue – at least no house points were lost anyway. When the bell rang the four of them walked to the Great Hall for Lunch, Lily's mind swirling with the thoughts of playing Quidditch.

.

At 4pm sharp Lily walked down toward the pitch. As she entered she spotted the team in the middle of the pitch, all chatting and grinning broadly.

"You made it!" the Captain called out as she approached.

"Wait – Lils – what are you doing here?" James asked curiously.

"Shaun is unable to play," the Captain explained, "family problems at the moment. His aunty recently passed away." The team collectively shuddered, Lily had a nasty feeling it was to do with the horrific attacks occurring.

"So anyway, Lily was our next best in the trials, so she will play as reserve Chaser until Shaun returns."

"Aye aye captain!" both James and Fred chorused, the Captain rolled his eyes.

"Now Lily, do you even know our names?" the Captain asked. Lily shook her head.

"Right well, I'm Dax Rankin. Our chasers are Gertrude Smith and Holly Sherwood," they both waved to indicate who they were. Gertrude was a slighty shorter, heavier woman but nevertheless athletic. She had pulled her brown hair into a ponytail. Holly meanwhile was long and lanky, with short blonde hair, hazel eyes and a willowy frame. Dax himself was tall, burly and black. He had closely cropped black hair and warm brown eyes. All three of them were seventh years.

"And of course our newest member Yuri Ito," Dax said, "our Seeker."

Lily and Yuri shook hands. Yuri was a small, slight third-year student with long black hair, soft brown eyes and high cheekbones.

"Alright, now that we are all introduced I think it's time to get up into the air!" Dax called, "let's go!"

Lily mounted her broom and kicked off from the ground, soaring into the air. Once everyone was comfortable, Dax set up practice much like Lily had had in the summertime at her house. She grabbed the Quaffle and soared into the air, practicing her passing and throwing into the hoops.

"Just don't use the Finbourgh Flick!" Fred called out as Lily threw the Quaffle. It flew through one of the hoops and Lily turned and smiled.

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Lily giggled back. Dax was smiling when they all landed safely on the ground again.

"Well done everyone!" Dax called, "I'm sure we'll flatten Slytherin!"

"Here's hoping!" the team chorused and they all set back up to the castle, smiling but shivering slightly as the coolness of the night drew ever closer.

.

The week passed with taunts and praise flying around the corridors. The Gryffindor Quidditch team had not seen a First-Year play on it since Harry Potter himself, and Lily found herself excited yet always nauseous at the idea of playing her first ever match she would ever see at Hogwarts. The house tables in the Great Hall had begun to morph back into the original format of the Opening Feast, with people slowly but surely sitting at their correct table.

All too soon Lily found herself sitting at the Gryffindor table, playing with her eggs and bacon as the rest of the team chatted and ate around her. She observed that absolutely everyone was sitting at their correct table. She saw the Slytherin team having a pep talk and Archie slightly down from them, eating his porridge by himself. Her heart swelled for him. However she had no time to ponder as Dax called them out of the Great Hall.

"Good luck!" Hugo called out. Lily waved as she walked with the team to the cheers of Gryffindor and boos of Slytherin. James and Fred came up either side of her, James throwing his arm around her shoulders, "you ready for this Lily?"

"No," Lily felt a lump rise in her throat.

"Well you better be, we've got some spectators to impress," Fred grinned. Lily assumed he meant the entire school plus the teaching staff. The team arrived into the changing rooms.

"Here honey, these should fit," Gertrude said, handing her a pair of Quidditch robes, "my own actually from third year when I made the team."

Lily nodded and pulled on her scarlet and gold robes. She sat with her brother and cousin as Dax gave a short pep talk, "we've practiced several times, just remember what your job is and focus on that. Yuri, I need you to catch the Snitch as quickly as you can before Slytherin gets a leg up on us," Yuri nodded, looking as though she was going to throw up.

"James, Fred, just do what you do," Dax added and they nodded also. The seven of them gathered and walked together onto the pitch. The crowd roared and bombarded them with sound.

Suddenly the nerves bubbling inside her stopped, becoming stagnant – she felt braver, this was where she wanted to be. She swung her leg over her broom and watched as Dax walked over to the Slytherin captain to shake his hand. She felt an elbow in the ribs as James hissed in her ear, "look at where the staff are sitting!"

Sure enough, Lily scanned the crowd of screaming students as her eyes found the much more civil staff area. She didn't seem to notice what James had meant and then just before she shrugged it off, she spotted them. She spotted the tall man with untidy black hair and glasses, and next to him a red headed woman looking extremely excited.

"Mum and Dad," she whispered, feeling the tears come to her eyes. She heard the whistle go and she kicked off from the ground. The wind stung her face and the sun beat down on her back as she sped through the air.

I'm home.

She made a grab for the Quaffle which had been thrown into the air and raced down toward the end of the pitch holding it firmly under her arm. She watched as a Slytherin chaser came pelting toward her and she threw the Quaffle where it landed with Holly. Holly threw it back to her and she flung it as far as it would go, soaring straight through the middle hoop. The Slytherin keeper, a big fifth-year boy, pouted as the score buzzer went off.

"Ten nil to Gryffindor! And Lily Potter is proving herself to be an admirable player already!" the commentator was saying. Lily turned to see a single student in the staff part of the stands, but could not make out who they were, although they had a female voice.

And so the game continued. Lily, Holly and Gertrude scoring goal after goal after goal. She fumbled the Quaffle and a Slytherin chaser latched onto it, "and Slytherin is in possession of the Quaffle, they soar toward the goal aaaaaand – ooooooh Rankin saves it!"

This was greeted to booing from the Slytherin end of the pitch, "score is seventy nil to Gryffindor." Lily high fived Holly and raced along as Gertrude had a hold of the Quaffle, they dodged several Chasers and Lily out of the corner of her eye spotted a Bludger zooming toward her. She managed the Sloth Grip Roll again and swung back onto her broom.

Again, the three of them worked as a formidable team. Lily, Getrude and Holly continuing to score goals and Dax pulling off some of the most spectacular saves. James and Fred were hammering Bludgers left and right, smashing into the opposing team.

They were one hundred and ten points up, "and Smith from Gryffindor is once again in possession of the Quaffle, Gryffindor is smashing it today! They either got really good or Slytherin got really bad!" more booing chorused from the Slytherin end again.

Gertrude threw her the Quaffle and Lily caught it, dodging the Slytherin chaser and pelting down the pitch. In those tense moments before arriving to the scoring area, Lily was going to do something extremely stupid. She had practiced this several times in her life. Gripping onto the broom, she chucked the Quaffle to Holly as she briefly pulled her legs up and crouched on the broom handle. She carefully stood at her full height as Holly threw it back to her.

"And what is Potter doing on her broom!" the commentator called. In one swift motion, Lily leapt off of her broom and threw the Quaffle with all her might. As if in slow motion she watched as the Keeper missed and it soared through the left hoop. She felt her senses catch up and realised she was now beginning to fall. As she fell her broom arrived safely between her legs, and she landed, righted herself and pulled off a sharp turn away from the goals.

"AND POTTER HAS PULLED OFF THE CHELMONDISTON CHARGE!" the commentator roared into the microphone over the deafening sound of the crowd, "ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY NIL FOR GRYFFINDOR!"

"HOW DID YOU JUST DO THAT?" James screamed and high fived her as he passed her. Lily laughed, tossing her head back and looking to the sky, I can't believe that just worked she thought to herself, better not push my luck.

"The Gryffindor team is absolutely on fire today ladies and gentlemen! Slytherin once again in position with the Quaffle – aaaaaand THEY SCORE! One hundred and twenty to ten!" The game began to get dirty. Bludgers were being swung left and right, Lily dodging for all her might as she soared around them, continuing to score. The Slytherin Keeper was becoming more furious and had managed to block several shots, as did Dax down the other end. A Slytherin chaser aimed a punch for Gertrude's face but missed by millimetres.

Gryffindor safely landed five more goals, bringing the total up to one hundred and seventy to ten. Lily, Holly and Gertrude formed a guard of honour soaring briskly around the pitch, head up high.

"And the Seekers are going into a dive!" the commentator called. Sure enough, Lily skidded to a halt and spotted Yuri and the Slytherin seeker neck and neck as they raced like bullets toward the Golden Snitch. Lily could not see what was happening now, they had flown too far away from them.

A deafening roar overcame the pitch and the commentator screamed over the noise "SLYTHERIN HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH-,"

"Darn," Lily muttered, snapping her fingers but before she could react the commentator was screaming into the microphone still.

"-I DON'T BELIEVE IT! SLYTHERIN HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH BUT GRYFFINDOR WINS: ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY TO ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY! NEVER IN HOGWARTS HISTORY!"

And suddenly two forces slammed into her and she realised James and Fred were hugging her, yelling into her ear. Dax, Yuri, Holly and Getrude flew over and they embraced as a team. The roar of the crowd throbbed in her ears as they descended to the ground and a blob of scarlet and gold rushed over. A small brown head boy in the lead with a massive smile on his face, and he threw his arms around her.

"CHAMPION CHASERS!" Gryffindor was roaring. The team were observing tears of happiness, screaming people and absolutely thrilled Gryffindors. She shook their hands and embraced them all, as did the others.

"PARTY IN THE COMMON ROOM!" someone yelled as people began to trickle off of the pitch including everyone in the team except Fred, James and her. Once the Gryffindors had begun to thin Lily noticed a few other students approaching. Scorpius, Albus, Eileen, Archie and even Rose had made their way over.

"Bro, we beat ya team!" James called out to Albus.

"Bite me!" Albus replied briskly as they approached.

"Lily you are incredible," Scorpius said, "that was some damn fine flying."

"Thanks," Lily replied, smiling at him.

"Well done Lils," a voice behind her said, and she turned to find her Father and Mother.

"Mum! Dad!" she cried, wrapping her arms around her father, and then her mother.

"What are you doing here?" Albus asked as he received an embrace from Ginny.

"They've come to see me," James sniggered, much to the amusement of Fred. Harry rolled his eyes and surveyed them all.

"Came to watch you play," Harry replied, "especially my daughter's first game. That was amazing flying guys," he looked toward where Lily and James were standing together.

"Who taught you the Chelmondiston charge?" Ginny asked with a stern look in her eye. Lily rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She had known from a young age that, despite seeing her mother do it, she was forbidden from actually practicing it due to the danger of it.

"Er…." Lily mumbled, staring at her shoes, "I taught myself."

"All those hours in the backyard playing Quidditch has paid off I'm sure," Harry smiled as they all began to exit the pitch. She caught her mother's eye and she still looked stern, Lily shrunk a little. When they exited the pitch they spotted Professor Longbottom walking toward them.

"Heard you were down here Harry, sorry I couldn't make it guys…." He stammered, shaking Harry's hand and embracing Ginny, "been busy up at the castle with work."

"More like getting some private time with Madame Longbottom," James whispered quietly and they all giggled, but stopped suddenly upon receiving a glare from Ginny.

"I understand the pain of work," Harry laughed as he chatted with his old friend. After several boring minutes of chatter Professor Longbottom bade goodbye and trotted off to return to his professor duties.

"Well we best be off," James said, "wouldn't want to be late to our own party! Coming Lily? Rose? Hugo?"

"I'll catch up with you!" Lily smiled as Rose walked off with James and Fred back into the castle. Albus too said goodbye and decided he would go visit Hagrid with Scorpius since Rose had abandoned them.

"So these are your friends then?" Ginny asked of the group, "nice to meet you all."

"Yes it's lovely to meet you," Harry smiled, "what were your names again?"

"I'm Eileen – and this is Archie," Eileen announced as both Harry and Ginny shook their hands.

"How are you enjoying Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"It's better now I just did that," Lily said and they all laughed.

"Well, your father and I best be off now – I'm so thrilled that you made the team Lily."

"I'm only reserve Chaser though," Lily said, remembering who had actually secured the position. Harry laughed at her expression.

"Only reserve Chaser? I don't think you will be anymore," he announced and at this Lily smiled brightly. She hugged her parents and watched as the two of them began to exit the castle grounds.

"That was amazing!" Eileen chirped.

"Told you she was good," Hugo added.

"Good is an understatement," Archie laughed, "are you gonna go to the party in your Common room?"

"Suppose we should," Hugo said, "wouldn't want them missing their star Chaser here." Lily felt herself blushing as red as a tomato. She waved goodbye to Eileen and Archie and made for the common room with Hugo, smiling as they went.

"Expecto patronum," Lily said confidently to the Fat Lady several minutes later and the two of them crawled into the Common Room expecting cheering, streamers and food. What they found were students all standing around the wireless, hanging their heads or else not moving whatsoever. Rose was curled into an armchair crying while Fred sat next to her, arm around her shoulder as he comforted her.

"What's going on?" Lily asked rushing forward. James walked over to her from where he had been standing at the window. He had a look of horror etched on his face.

"Aunt Hermione's parents have just been killed in a massive explosion in a Muggle shopping centre."

"What-," Hugo began but James cut across him.

"It was magical folk who did it."