SIX
"You nervous?" Al asked his sister
"Please, I think I can catch the snitch faster than that silly Hufflepuff girl!" Lily answered
"You better!" James said as he sat down next to her and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"At least you can win against Hufflepuff because I truly doubt you'll be able to beat Slytherin," Padme said, laughing
"What are you and Al even doing here?" James asked
"They're here for moral support!" answered Lily cheerfully
"You call that moral support?" James said
"I'm a Quidditch player, not a cheerleader," Padme reminded James, "Al's the cheerleader here! All he's missing is a skirt and some pompoms!" she joked
"Hey! I'm a Quidditch player too!" said Al, pretending to get offended
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, now please let me focus," James demanded
He always wanted to picture all of the game in his head before it started. He had to predict the other team's moves before they made them and it required a lot of concentration.
"Padme, if you stay here, I'll start thinking it's a strategy to distract me so Hufflepuff wins and Gryffindor is lower in rankings. Please leave and bring Al with you!"
"Bloody hell! What's wrong with you?" Lily asked, eyebrows raised and eyes wide open, "How is that a way to talk to your new girlfriend? Won't be long and she'll be dumping you!"
"I really need to concentrate! I'm sorry, Padme but I have to plan the game in my head and I can't do that while you're here! I'll be a completely honest with you, the only reason I can think about the game with you here is that I'm only thinking about you and-"
"James," Padme smiled, "it's completely fine. I totally understand, don't worry about it. Come on, Al. Good luck, both of you!"
She knew how Quidditch was important to him and thought that fooling around could be done elsewhere.
Both Padme and Al made their way back to the dorms to pick up Jen before the game started. Quickly stopping to say hi to the basilisk, they hurried back to meet her.
"Ready?" Al asked
"Yeah, just a second," Jennifer answered
"We gave you 45 minutes when we left and you're still not ready!" Padme said
"I was curling my hair," answered Jen
"How long does it even take?" asked Al
"That's not the question," Padme said, "the question is why the bloody hell were you curling your hair to watch a Quidditch game?"
"I wanted to look pretty!" Jen replied as if the answer was obvious
"You look pretty without your hair curled," said Al, "Even then, again, why would you want to look pretty for a Quidditch game?"
"By Merlin's hat, you want to look pretty because you're going to see Sean!" yelled Padme, outraged
"Sean Finnegan?!" asked Al, bewildered
"He asked me if I wanted to hang out with him after the game…"
"How could you even want to go out with him? He's a total idiot!" started Padme
"He is not an idiot! He may not be an O student but he's really nice, funny and very good looking! He's really sweet and I don't know why you're making a big deal out of this! Not everyone needs to date someone as smart as you or as James to be happy!" yelled Jen
"Al! Help me up, here!" asked Padme
"No! Help ME up!" demanded Jennifer
"First of all, I am smart enough not to get involved in this and second of all, I think we're going to be late so we might as well finish this now and head to the Quidditch field!"
"I agree with Al!" said Padme
"Of course! Just dodge this confrontation!" said Jen waving her hands over her head.
She took her bag and left without a glance back, determined to go to the game without them.
"Should I go after her?" asked Padme, feeling slightly remorseful
"I think it would be best if you just let her simmer down for a while," answered Al
"Maybe you're right…"
"Want to go watch the game?" Al suggested
"Yeah."
They were jogging through the halls to make it on time to the Quidditch field when something peculiar caught their attention. Headmistress McGonagall was humming to herself walking towards the Quidditch field.
They slowed down and Al whispered:
"I never heard her humming before," he said
"Me neither," agreed Padme
"What about the fact that she's going to be late to the game?"
"It's true! That never happened before too!"
"Maybe something happened!" Al whispered
"Professor McGonagall!" Padme cried out
The woman clad in green turned around, smiling.
"What is it dear child?" she asked
"Is everything ok?" Al asked
"Yes, never been better!" she answered with an even broader smile
"Aren't you going to be late to the game?" Padme asked
"There's nothing wrong with being fashionably late, is there?" said McGonagall
"No, no there's not anything wrong with that…"replied Padme
"Well, goodbye children," said McGonagall as she continued walking at a quicker pace.
As she left Padme whispered:
"That was odd."
"My suspicions are confirmed. Never have I ever heard Professor McGonagall talk like that," said Al
"I think we should tell Scorp and Jen about this, oh wait, Jen no longer wishes to talk to me!"
"Don't worry about it! It'll be solved in a couple of days, not even!"
"I sure hope so…"
They arrived at the Quidditch game late and were forced to sit on the bleachers at the complete back, making it very hard for them to see.
"I can't see anything!" yelled Padme in frustration
"At least we're not in the Gryffindor compartment, sitting behind Hagrid!" laughed Al
"But I really wanted to watch them play! I have to learn what kind of strategies they're using!"
Albus shook his head at his friend's comment as they obviously couldn't do anything about it.
Albus still enjoyed the game, even if Padme kept complaining, as Gryffindor won since his sister caught the Snitch. They both got down the platform and waited for James and Lily near the changing rooms. Soon enough, Jen joined them, waiting for Sean.
"I should've known you were going to be here," she started
"Jen, I'm sorry," apologized Padme
"For what?" asked Jen with fury in her eyes.
"I'm dreadfully sorry for not being happy for you when you were obviously excited about going out with Finnegan."
"And?"
"I'm sorry for yelling at you."
-And?
"Er…sorry for…er…I have no clue," she admitted
"Calling someone an idiot, maybe?"
"I'm sorry for calling Finnegan stupid," finally apologized Padme, "Can you please forgive me?"
"Of course!" smiled Jen
Both girls ran into each other's arms and laughed.
"I hate being angry at you," admitted Jen
"I hate it when we fight too, I love you," giggled Padme.
"I love you too," laughed Jen
"Well, I better tell James his girlfriend is cheating on him!" yelled Sean's voice
"Very funny, Finnegan," said Padme
"Do you still want to go on our date, Jennifer?" he asked, smiling
"Of course! Let's go!" answered Jen, smiling as well
"Did I forget to mention you look very pretty?" Sean said as they walked away
"You don't like him, do you?" Padme asked Al as she saw his disgusted face
"No, I do not," he admitted
"He's not that bad…"
"You're the one who made a scene about it!" Al said
"I wasn't thinking straight. To get angry for such a foolish reason, that was very stupid of me."
"Ooh! Black saying she's stupid! That's something you don't hear every day!" exclaimed James as he came out of the changing room.
"Shut up!" Padme said
"Good job on winning!" congratulated Al
"Thanks mate," answered James
"Where's Lily?" Padme asked
"She thinks I didn't see her sneak out to go meet up with your brother. She'll hear about it later, anyway what are you guys up to?"
"We wanted to talk to you about Professor McGonagall," started Al
"What about her?" asked James
"She's been acting weird lately. I think we should hold a council meeting about it," said Padme
"Wow! Last time we held a council meeting was when we decided if it was ok for Scorpius and Rose to date. This can't be nearly as important as that nasty little Malfoy!"
"That's my best friend you're talking about!" said Al
"And I truly don't care," admitted James, "now about that council…"
"Tomorrow. Room of Requirements, right after dinner. Password is basilisk, what do you think James?" said Al
"That's almost as stupid as Respect…"
