From Slayer to Witch
A/N: Heyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!! Can you guys believe it? I've finally updated after being gone for like half a year. That has got to be a record. I know that some of you might be seriously pissed at me for taking so long. But you know what they say better late than never. I really won't go into why I didn't update for so long but truth is that I had abandoned my Btvs/Hp fics but when I realized that people were still reviewing even after I hadn't written for a while I decided it was time for an update. I won't ramble much since I know you're in a hurry to get to the chapter. I just have a few things to say.
First of all, I hope it wasn't hard for you to find this fic since I changed my penname. (I told you I was going to do it a long time ago!)
Second of all, thanks to all of my reviewers. You have no idea how much the reviews meant to me. Especiallysaxifrage, lil-sis4556, narmolanya andjust me because you guys gave me the last extra push that I needed.
And lastly, because I haven't been going on Fanfiction for a while, it was only recently that I found out Malli, author of The Phoenix Child had passed away. I know that this is really late but I offer my condolences to her family and friends and dedicate this chapter to her. She was a wonderful writer, an amazing person and she will be missed.
Lessons in Quidditch, Love or Otherwise
"Will you guys stop doing that?" Andy complained. "It's disgusting."
It was Sunday morning, the day of the big Quidditch game, and Andy, Lily, Jaq and Buffy were in the Great Hall eating breakfast. At least Andy and Jaq were eating breakfast. Buffy and Lily looked like they were competing in the 'who could stuff their faces the fastest' Olympics.
Buffy mumbled something incoherent.
"What, what, and what?" Lily asked.
Buffy swallowed. "I'm sorry but I'm late." She explained. "I promised Sirius I'd meet up with him five minutes ago."
"Oooh, a little rendezvous before class. That is so cute!" Andy exclaimed. "Can I guess why?"
"Knowing the nature of your mind and the direction it usually takes, I'm going to do the smart thing and say no." Buffy said with a teasing smile.
Andy pouted. "Fine, you tell us why." She said.
"Sirius promised to teach me how to fly." Buffy said.
"How come you asked Sirius to teach you? I could've taught you." Jaq said with a frown. "I know how to fly better than he does."
"Don't you see Jaq? Now that Buffy has a boyfriend, she doesn't need us anymore." Lily said dramatically.
"Shut it, you two." Buffy said, knowing that they were only teasing her. "And I really have to go now."
"Okay, we'll see you at the game." Lily said waving her fork at her.
"Jaq, Sirius was still at the Quidditch Pitch when you left, right?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, but from the looks of it he's not anymore." Jaq said nodding towards the entrance.
Sirius had just walked thru the entrance door of the Great Hall with an extremely pained look on his face. And no wonder, walking right beside him was none other than the ever-present Hestia Jones.
"That little slut," Andy said with a scowl. "Can't she see he's taken?"
"What the hell does she think she's doing hanging around my boyfriend like that?" Buffy said with an even bigger scowl. It was one thing for Hestia to be hanging around Sirius when he was single but now that he was dating Buffy, it meant war. Buffy knew for a fact that Hestia knew that they were a couple. Andy had made sure that word got around last night and not so subtly either. At the moment Buffy wanted nothing more than to wring her hands around Hestia's neck and choke her to death.
"Watch it, Buffy," Jaq said with a small smile. "I don't think killing her and getting sent to Azkaban is worth it."
Buffy blushed, a bit embarrassed that her friend had seen her glare and had guessed her intentions.
As if Jaq read her thoughts, she spoke up again. "Oh it wasn't the death glare that got my attention at first- it was definitely the strange growling I heard."
"Well, she'd certainly deserve it," Andy said, still scowling. "Just look at her."
They all watched as Sirius abruptly turned around and left the Great Hall and Hestia ran after him, calling his name.
"I swear that is more disgusting than watching Lily eat." Jaq commented.
"Hey!" Lily said indignantly.
"That's it. This is going to end today." Buffy said, getting up. "It's past time me and Hestia had a little chat." She added with a determined look.
"Just don't do too much damage. Leave some for me!" Andy called as Buffy walked out.
Buffy spotted Hestia lounging in front of the Charms corridor with some of her friends. They were giggling loudly and Buffy was sure that she heard Sirius's name more than once. Without another thought, Buffy walked right up to them.
"What do you want?" Hestia said coldly when she got notice of Buffy.
"Just to talk." Buffy said.
"Well then talk," quipped one of Hestia's friends.
Buffy fixed her with her infamous slayer glare that had reduced many vampires and demons to quivering masses. The girl meekly backed away. "Fine," Buffy said thru clenched teeth. "What I have to tell you won't take long. Just this. I don't like the way you keep hanging around my boyfriend." She put heavy emphasis on the last word.
"And is that my problem?" Hestia said loudly with a smirk. They were starting to gather a crowd.
"No, it's mine," Buffy said calmly. "Which is why I'm here, talking to you. Lay off Sirius, he's mine."
"If he really was yours then you wouldn't have to worry about other girls hanging around him, would you?" Hestia said, still smirking. "I think somebody is jealous." She added in a singsong voice causing some of her friends to giggle.
"Of you?" Buffy had to laugh. "Not on your life. For your information, everybody in this school except for you knows that Sirius has zero interest in you. And I quote, he'd rather die a painful death than have to go thru the torture of dating you."
This wiped the smirk from Hestia's face and caused the crowd to laugh at her.
"And if I don't?" She said defiantly.
"Then I'll make sure that this is one thing you'll spend the rest of your life regretting," Buffy said simply with an expressionless face.
"Are you threatening me?" Hestia said her voice getting shrill.
"No, I'm promising you." And with that Buffy walked away from the now rendered speechless girl.
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Am I moving?" Buffy asked for what had to be the tenth time in less than a minute.
"Nope. You're feet are still on the ground, which you would've notice if you opened your eyes." Sirius said with a grin.
Buffy slowly opened one eye. "You're right," she said disappointedly.
"What did you expect? Did you think that if you held the broom tight enough and wished it hard enough you'd magically be up in the air?" Sirius said with a smile.
"Oh stop teasing." Buffy said sliding off the broomstick.
"Well, we've been out here for fifteen minutes now and you still haven't been able to work up the courage to fly." Sirius said.
"Are you trying to say I'm chicken?" Buffy said putting her hands on her hips in such a comical way that Sirius had to laugh.
"Fine be that way," Buffy said with a pout. "I'll show you I'm not."
She shakily got back on the broom and before she could lose her nerve, she kicked off the ground like Sirius had showed her and rose up a couple of feet off the air.
"There you go," Sirius said encouragingly. "Now just tilt the handle up a little bit to gain more ground."
Buffy did as he said and she flew up a couple more feet. To her absolute amazement she didn't fall.
"You're doing great," Sirius said. "Now lean into the broom to go forward but just slightly and remember the more you lean into the broom the faster you go so you don't want to lean in all the way."
Buffy started to lean in slowly but in a moment of daring she decided to abandon all her fear and lean in all the way. Buffy shot forward like a bullet and the last thing she heard was Sirius calling her name. She was going so fast she nearly flew into the stands but at the last minute her slayer senses kicked in and she turned quickly to the left. It took a couple of minutes for it to actually register but Buffy realized that she was actually flying. She was in the air, the wind in her hair and she felt wonderful. The look on her face changed from sheer amazement to total happiness. She was actually flying! Flying was something that she had only dreamed about when she was younger and now here she was fulfilling that dream. It was the most exhilarating feeling in the world. With a laugh, Buffy threw all her caution out the window and started flying as fast as she could. Twice, she nearly flew into the poles only to pull out at the last second. After flying around the pitch twice, she decided it was time to land. Buffy took a nosedive towards the ground and landed right in front of Sirius, her feet lightly touching the floor.
"Oh my god! Sirius, did you see that? I flew. I actually flew. It was amazing and it felt so good and so freeing and- " Buffy stopped when she saw that Sirius wasn't responding and was breathing heavily. "Sirius, are you okay?" She asked mounting off the broom and walking towards him.
"Are you out of you're mind?" he said hoarsely. "You scared the hell out of me. Three times my heart nearly stopped and every time you almost flew into a pole you took ten years away from my life. I should've never let you get on that broom, you could've killed yourself!"
"Oh, Sirius," Buffy said touched. "That is so sweet!"
"What? The fact that I nearly died of a heart attack?" Sirius said.
"Stop exaggerating," Buffy said punching his arm lightly before pulling him into a hug.
Sirius put his arms around her tiny waist and buried his face into her hair. "Don't ever do anything that dangerous again, " he said gruffly.
Buffy snuggled into his arms without saying anything. That was one promise she knew she would never be able to keep. After a while, Sirius let go of her.
"Now that I'm over the shock of seeing you fly like a manic. Let me just say, that was amazing." He said. "Actually that was beyond amazing. You flew like you've been doing it all your life. I've never seen anybody fly that good on their first try."
"Really?" Buffy said with a smile.
"Really." Sirius answered. "Of course you're not as good as me yet but you're definitely on your way."
"Not as good as you, huh?" Buffy said crossing her arms.
"Yeah but it's only natural. I mean, I've been flying practically forever and you just learned how to fly." Sirius said oblivious of the devious look on his girlfriend's face.
"Well, there's only one way to find out." Buffy said with a slow smile. "Let's have a race."
"A race?" Sirius repeated.
"Yeah, we'll start off from here and fly to the end of the pitch, whoever gets there first, wins." Buffy explained.
"Okay," Sirius said. "But remember when you lose that this was all you're idea.
"Oh I don't plan to lose." Buffy said.
"That's too bad because I always win." Sirius said with a quick grin.
"Cocky, aren't you?" Buffy said with a shake of her head.
"I prefer the word confident." Sirius replied.
"Is that so?" Buffy asked sauntering over to him. She traced one finger lazily down his chest. She smiled when she felt his heart skip a beat. It gave her goosebumps knowing that she had this kind of effect on him. "Not so confident now are you?" she murmured.
Sirius started to reply but Buffy silenced him with a kiss. Just as he was about to pull her into his arms she moved away. Before he knew what was happening Buffy had jumped onto her broom and was yelling over her shoulder, "Meet you at the finish line!"
"Dammit!" Sirius swore as he realized that his seductive and apparently very clever girlfriend had just tricked him. Sirius climbed onto his broomstick and raced after her.
"Cheater!" he called when he had finally caught up with her.
Buffy laughed, her eyes sparkling. "Hey, a girl's got a do what a girl's got to do." She said.
"Let's race again but this time we have to go all around the pitch. We'll start on the count of three." Sirius said. "One, two, THREE!"
They zoomed off and this time Sirius won but only by a second or two.
"Told you I'd beat you," Sirius said breathing heavily.
"What do you say we give it another go?" Buffy said breathing just as heavily.
Sirius agreed and the raced around the pitch two more times, Buffy winning both although Sirius argued that the second race was a tie. They were about to race a third time when the spotted Lily and Andy on the ground.
"Hi guys," Buffy said when she landed near them. "How long have you been here?"
"Long enough. Buffy, where'd you learn to fly like that?" Andy asked. "You flew so good. Even better than Si and he's been flying practically forever." She added ignoring her cousin's gasps and sputters.
"Well, I have Sirius to thank. He's the one who taught me." Buffy said giving Sirius a light peck on the cheek.
"Not true. You're a natural. It's like you were born to fly." Sirius said, his male ego somewhat appeased by his girlfriend's kiss.
"Sirius is actually right for once." Lily said. "I mean I don't much about Quidditch-"
"Try nothing," muttered Sirius.
"Excuse me?" Lily said in a huff. "I know stuff about Quidditch. As I was saying Buffy before I got so rudely interrupted-"
"Which is why that after all these years, you still insist on calling the Quaffle a waffle!" Sirius said, interrupting her again.
"Even I know that the Quaffle is called a Quaffle," Andy put in, amused.
"Well, you have to. You're boyfriend plays Quidditch." Lily retorted.
"And what does James play? Ballet?" Sirius said sarcastically.
"Here we go again," Buffy sighed as the two started arguing back and forth. It wasn't that Sirius and Lily didn't get along. On the contrary, they got along very well most of the time and were really good friends but they were both extremely stubborn people and could argue for hours at times.
"Hey, where's Jaq?" Buffy asked wanting to change the subject.
"Oh, James just called a last minute Quidditch meeting. Said he wanted to go over tactics or something." Andy said breezily.
That caught Sirius's attention. "What?" he demanded. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"That's why we came out here in the first place." Andy said, annoyed. "But then you and Lily started arguing and I didn't have a chance to say anything."
"Where are they?" he asked.
"In the Gryffindor locker room," Lily answered crossly.
Sirius picked up his broomstick and the one Buffy had been using and walked away. "I'll see you after the game." He called to Buffy.
"We'll be cheering for you!" Buffy called back.
"Men are such idiots." Lily said as they watched Sirius walk away.
Andy and Buffy exchanged glances. It was obvious that she was already in a very bad mood and Buffy had a hunch that it had to do with James.
"Alright, what did he do this time?" Buffy said getting right to the point.
"You wouldn't believe if I told you," Lily said.
"Try me," Buffy said crossing her arms.
"Alright, he cheated on me." Lily said.
"What?" Buffy and Andy said in unison.
"Lily, you have to be mistaken. James would never do something that." Andy said.
"Besides, everything was fine last night and we were together the whole time. When did he get the chance to cheat on you?" Buffy added.
"When Andy, Jaq and I decided to go inside Madame Milkins. Remember Andy?" Lily said turning towards her. "They guys went inside Zonko's and when we went back to get them James wasn't with them?"
"Yeah," Andy said slowly. "But he came back less than five minutes later."
"And when I asked where he was, he gave me some vague answer?"
"I remember," Andy said. "But Lily, I really think you're making a mountain out of a mole hole. Just because you didn't know where he was for five minutes doesn't automatically mean that he was with some other girl."
"I know, just hear me out," Lily said. "That's what I thought too but this morning after James had gone down to the Quidditch Pitch he got an owl." She paused dramatically.
"Heaven forbid, not an owl!" Andy cried in mock anger. Buffy couldn't help it. She burst out laughing and Andy joined her.
"You won't think it's so funny when you find out who it's from." Lily said crossing her arms.
"You're right, Lils. We're sorry." Buffy said. "Who was it from?"
"Guess." She answered.
"Umm, his parents?" Buffy said.
"No."
"His grandparents?" Andy guessed.
"No."
"A teacher?" Buffy suggested.
"Nope."
"One of the guys?" Andy asked and received blank looks from both girls. "Hey, it could happen." She said with a shrug.
"Honestly, Lily we don't know." Buffy said.
"Fine. He got an owl from Emma Fields." Lily said.
"Ouch," Andy said with a wince. "I'm so sorry Lily."
Buffy was confused. She was certain that she had never heard of anybody named Emma Fields. "Who's she? Does she go to Hogwarts?" she asked.
"And that's not all. I read the letter-"
"Wait, you read the letter?" Buffy interrupted. "Are you sure James won't mind?"
"Well, what would've you done?" Lily asked.
"Point taken." Andy said with a nod.
"No, point not taken." Buffy replied. "You guys still haven't told me who Emma is."
"James's ex-girlfriend." Lily said matter-of-factly.
It was as if a light had gone on in Buffy's head. She suddenly understood why Lily was so angry. "And what did the letter say?" she asked carefully.
"Well, mostly she just rambled about her life and asked a bunch of stupid questions but right before the closing she mentioned that it had been good to see him again and she thanked him for the drinks. Know what that means?" Lily asked and then answered her own question. "It means that he was with her last night when he was supposed to be with me. To me, that counts as cheating and the worst part is that he didn't tell me."
"You think you would've taken well if he told you?" Buffy asked pointedly.
"Probably not." Lily admitted.
"Hence his reason for not telling you." Buffy said practically.
"Buffy, what you're saying makes sense but you've never met Emma Fields." Andy said.
"True and why is that by the way? Doesn't she go to Hogwarts?"
"She did," Lily said flatly. "She graduated last year."
"Ah, an older girl." Buffy said. "And why didn't you guys like her? Was she anything like Hestia?"
"No, the complete opposite." Andy said.
"And that's a bad thing?" Buffy inquired.
"It was to us girls," Lily responded. "Emma was the type of person you love to hate. She had everything. Money, status, looks, brains, and was a perfect little angel. She was every guy's dream girlfriend and every girl's worst enemy."
"Cos you guys felt threatened by her?" Buffy guessed.
"You couldn't help but feel that way." Andy said with a shrug.
"And she went out with James?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah. Emma and James had grown up together and they'd always been friends but they started going out at the end of our third year. When James was thirteen and she was fourteen. Their relationship lasted for three years."
"And did you like James at the time?" Buffy questioned.
"No," Lily said with a snort. "I couldn't stand him. James was the cockiest, most arrogant, self-centered bastard there ever was. We got off on the wrong foot on our first day at Hogwarts. I don't really remember why but all I know was that we've been enemies ever since."
"You're kidding." Buffy gasped, her jaw dropping open.
"She's not," Andy said with an amused smile. "I swear James was the most loathsome creature there ever was. He loved to torment us girls especially Lily. He was always playing pranks at her, stealing her lunch, pulling her hair, you name it he did it."
"Oh my god, I would've never thought James would do something like that," Buffy said. "Was Sirius like that too?"
"A bit," Andy said still smiling. "But not as much as James was."
"Anyway, I didn't really care when they started going out. If anything I was happy because it gave James something else to concentrate on and he didn't bother me as much."
"And if there was anybody who was ever able to talk any sense into James, it was Emma. Whenever he was around her he was almost human. When he wasn't, he'd return to his normal cocky self." Lily said.
"Eventually, he grew up and they broke up," Andy said. "Everybody had thought they made the perfect couple. You know, Quidditch leader and Head Girl so their break-up came as a bit of a shock. And it wasn't until a while later that we found out why."
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"It turns out that our beloved James was smitten by dear Lils here and he decided that he'd rather be single and try his luck with Lily than be stuck in a relationship with a girl he was no longer interested in." Andy answered.
"Wait a second, James dumped Emma so he could be with you and you're intimidated by her?" Buffy asked just to make sure.
Lily nodded but she still looked upset.
"There is something seriously wrong with that picture." Buffy said.
"I've been telling her that for that past year and she still doesn't get it." Andy said.
"But what if James wakes up one morning and realizes he's made the stupidest mistake of his life by giving her up for me and he decides to go back to her?" Lily blurted out. "She's perfect and I'm not. I don't think I'll be able to stand that." She added and a lone tear slipped down her face.
"Lily, I've only been for like a week and a half- wow, I've been here for less than two weeks and it feels like I've been here forever." Buffy said interrupting herself." Anyway, from the first day, it was so obvious that James was and is absolutely, positively, completely in love with you."
"Oh yeah, then why did he meet up with Emma last night?" Lily said fiercely, tears streaming down her face.
Buffy sighed. "Look, when was the last time James had seen Emma?"
Lily looked confused at the question. "At the end of last year, I guess." She said, wiping her face.
"Isn't it possible that James bumped into her last night totally by accident and offered to get her a drink just so they could sit down and catch up?" Buffy suggested. "I should think so if they're as close as you said they were especially if he hadn't seen her for a while."
Lily looked like the idea had never occurred to her. "But she signed the letter with love!"
Buffy looked upwards. "For heaven's sake, Lily." She sighed.
"Did anybody ever tell you that's you're paranoid?" Andy said. "Everybody signs their letters with love."
"And even if she signed love for sentimental reasons there's nothing wrong with that." Buffy said.
"Okay, now you've lost me." Andy stated. "There's nothing wrong with that?"
"Yes, there's nothing wrong with that. There's a big difference between loving somebody and being in love with somebody. It's totally normal for James to be in love you and still love Emma as a friend."
"Uh, no it's not." Lily stated and Andy nodded.
"Uh, yes, it is. Trust me, I speak from experience." Buffy said.
"You speak from experience?" echoed Lily.
"Yes. Look, I'm going out with Sirius now but that doesn't change how I feel about my ex-boyfriend. I've already made peace with the fact that Angel and I are thru but he was my first love and he was my friend. For that reason I'll always love him and he'll always have a place in my heart even if I do fall in love with somebody else." Buffy said passionately.
"You know, that actually does make sense." Andy said.
"I'm glad Sirius wasn't here to hear that," Lily said and Andy shot her a look.
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"Because if you think that I'm having a problem digesting this try talking to Sirius. He'd have a fit." Lily said with a smirk momentarily forgetting her problem.
"Funny, he doesn't strike me as the possessive type," Buffy mused.
"He's not," Andy said hurriedly. "He's just a bit insecure when it comes to you although he'd kill me if he knew I'd just told you."
"Well, this is something he'd just have to accept and the same goes for you Lily. You don't have to like it but if you do want to be with James, you have to accept it. You also have to trust him and stop being so suspicious because if you don't rest assured that you will drive him away." Buffy said seriously.
"When'd you get to be so smart?" Andy said her voice filled with admiration.
"Experience is the best teacher," Buffy said with a sad smile.
"Well, I think you really got across to Lily something I've never been able to do." Andy said. "Come to think of it, I don't think anybody's been able to do that."
"Uh guys, I'm still here," Lily said but she was smiling. "But I know what you mean. Thanks Buffy, I'm really glad we had this talk before I confronted James."
"When she says confront him she means hex the hell out of him." Andy explained.
"In that case, I'm glad we had this talk. At least for James sake." Buffy teased.
Lily laughed and hugged Buffy. Andy soon joined in.
"EVANS, SUMMERS, BLACK! GET OFF THE PITCH, THE GAMES'S ABOUT TO START!"
"They're right," Andy exclaimed, after quickly consulting her watch. "We better hurry if we want to get good seats."
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Prongs, will you stop pacing? You're making me dizzy." Sirius said after watching his best friend walk back and forth in the small room for ten minutes.
"I can't help it. I'm nervous," he replied.
"You shouldn't be. It's only against Hufflepuff; you know we'll beat them. We always do." Jaq said munching on an apple.
"Don't be so sure," said Matt Allen, he was a sixth year and the other Gryffindor beater. He was usually very quiet and only spoke up when it was absolutely necessary. "They have a new captain and a new line up."
"They do?" Sirius asked surprised. "Why didn't I hear about that?"
"Because you decided to skip our meeting this morning to spend some extra time with your girlfriend," James said glaring at him.
"Oh right," Sirius said fondly.
"But Allen's right. Amos Diggory is nothing like Hufflepuff's old captain. For one he's a lot smarter, he knows that we're better players than them so he's going to resort to strategy and trickery to beat us."
"Amos wouldn't do that," Jaq said doubtfully.
"Yes he would. This is his last year here and he's willing to do anything to win the cup for Hufflepuff." Jason said.
"Well, we're going to have to make sure that doesn't happen." James said determinedly.
At that moment a whistle was blown signaling for the teams to come out to the Quidditch Pitch.
"That's our cue." James said rubbing his hands together. "Remember what we said. Jaq, Curtis, do whatever you have to do to score. Davis, guard those hoops as if you're life depended on it, the Hufflepuff chasers are a lot better this year so be careful of them. The same goes to you guys," James added turning to Sirius and Matt. "Focus on the chasers, the rest of the team's not worth it. Zadel, whatever you do, catch that snitch." And with that James walked out of the Gryffindor locker room with the rest of the team behind him.
"AND HERE COMES THE GRYFFINDOR TEAM. LEADING THEM IS THEIR CAPTAIN AND CHASER, JAMES POTTER. FOLLOWED BY ALLEN, ZADEL, BLACK, DAVIS, CURTIS, AND DANA! LET'S GIVE THEM A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"
Jaq winced. "After all these years, I still don't get why they have to use our last names."
"Cos it sounds more professional," Sirius said with a shrug.
James fixed them with a glare. "Be quiet, you two." He whispered.
Jaq ignored him. "Oh look, there are the girls." She said pointing to her left.
Sirius turned to the direction she was pointing at. He saw that Buffy was looking directly at him and waved. Buffy replied by blowing him a kiss.
"Okay Captains, shake hands," Madame Hooch, the flying teacher, said appearing on the pitch with the Quidditch ball case. "And let's have a nice friendly game."
James nodded grimly but didn't say anything. They mounted their brooms and waited for Madame Hooch to blow the whistle.
"AND THEY'RE OFF! AND LESS THAN TEN SECONDS INTO THE GAME POTTER GRABS HOLD OF THE QUAFFLE! HE FAKES A THROW TO DANA, FLYS TOWARDS THE GOALPOST, NEARLY GETS HIT BY A BULDGER AND HE SCORES!"
The Gryffindor crowd erupted into cheers. James did a victory lap around the pitch stopping momentarily in front of Lily to give her a kiss.
"You still mad at him?" Buffy asked with a smile as the crowd started catcalling.
"Oh shut up," Lily said blushing.
"Nicely done, Prongs." Shouted Sirius as James flew by him.
"Concentrate on hitting those Bludgers," James called back.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
"HUFFLEPUFF IN POSSESISON OF THE QUAFFLE, DIGGORY THROWS AND HE MISSES! A NICE SAVE BY DAVIS! GRYFFINDOR HAS THE QUAFFLE! DANA MOVES IN TO SCORE AND NEARLY GETS KNOCKED OFF HER BROOM BY HUFFLEPUFF CHASER, STANTON!"
"Foul!" hollered the Gryffindor crowd.
"Wow, the other team is really starting to play dirty," Buffy commented.
"Shows you how bad they want to win it." Andy replied. "Madame Hooch better give us a penalty shot for that."
Madame Hooch did just that. Jaq took her position and throw the Quaffle neatly thru the middle hoop.
"ANOTHER TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! STILL NO SIGN OF THE SNITCH! BUT THE TWO SEEKERS ARE ON THE EDGE OF THEIR BROOMSTICKS READY TO MOVE AT ANY MOMENT."
It was over an hour before any of the seekers spotted the snitch. By then, the Gryffindor team had scored five more times and the Hufflepuff team had scored six.
"This is going to take forever," Lily said. Suddenly, there was a gasp from the crowd.
"I think you spoke too soon," Buffy said with a grin.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT APPEARS THAT THE GRYFFINDOR SEEKER HAS SPOTTED A BIT OF GOLD! THE HUFFLEPUFF SEEKER IS RIGHT ON HIS TAIL BUT IS IT TOO LATE? AND IT IS! ZADEL HAS APPERANTLY CAUGHT THE SNITCH, AWARDING THE GRYFFINDORS A HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
The crowd interrupted into a cacophony of cheers, shrieks and boos.
"We won! We won!" yelled Andy and pulled Lily and Buffy in a hug.
Buffy laughed and hugged her. At that precise moment, the back of her neck started to tingle. She pulled out of the hug.
"What's up?" Lily asked.
"Something's wrong." Buffy answered scanning the crowd and the pitch. Jason was still in the air the snitch clutched tightly in his hand. The rest of the team was around him.
"What do you mean?" Andy asked. "We just won the game!"
Buffy scanned the crowd again but nothing seemed to be out of order. "I guess your right," she said finally turning back to her friends. Out of the corner of her eye she saw some hooded figure in the Gryffindor crowd take out their want and aim it straight at –
"No!" Buffy screamed loudly but it was too late. The whole school turned to the petite blonde to see what she was screaming about including Jason. The spell, which was aimed for him, hit him square in the chest. He had a chance to conjure a look of surprise before falling two hundred feet and hitting the ground with a sickening crack.
The rest of the Gryffindor team all gathered around his limp body as did Madame Hooch, Madame Pomfrey and all of the professors that were present. The teachers had a quick consultation before Madame Pomfrey summoned a magical stretcher and lifted Jason magically onto it. She walked into the castle with the Gryffindor team hot on her heels.
"Come on," Buffy said grabbing Andy and Lily.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked as they pushed their way thru the crowds.
"To the hospital wing, we have to make sure that Jason is okay." Buffy said.
"Buffy did you actually see what happened?" Andy asked curiously.
"Yes and no. All I saw was somebody in a hooded cloak, sitting in the Gryffindor stands, take out their wand and do some spell. I tried to warn Jason but it was too late." Buffy said.
Because of all the students loitering around in the halls, it took the girls nearly twenty minutes to get to the Hospital Wing. Just as they were about to go in, the door opened and the Gryffindor team walked out looking extremely upset and in James's case, seriously pissed.
"What happened?" Lily asked. "Is Jason okay?"
Jaq glumly shook her head. "They had to take him to St. Mungo's." she said. "A wizarding hospital." She added when she saw Buffy's confused look.
"He was hurt that badly?" Andy gasped.
"And then some." Malcolm Curtis added.
"If it was only some broken bones, Madame Pomfrey would've been able to heal him in seconds but they thought that he might have injured his brain so to be on the safe side they asked a St. Mungo's doctor to floo in. He did and he confirmed their suspicions, Jason had damaged his brain. They called his parents and took him St. Mungo's."
"Is he going to be okay?" Buffy asked her hand on her mouth.
"Fortunately, yes. They expect him to make a full recovery." Sirius answered heaving a sigh. "Unfortunately, it'll take about two months at the least and he won't be back until February but even then they're not sure if he'll be able to play Quidditch."
"And we have a match in three weeks and another match right after Christmas vacation." James said, finally speaking up. "We have no reserve seeker, so we'll have to forfeit and if we forfeit both games, then we've lost our chance at winning the Cup. When I find out who did this-" James let the sentence hang and shook his head.
"Who said you have to forfeit?" Buffy said.
James looked at her like she was crazy. "Didn't you just hear me? We don't have a reserve seeker, without a seeker we can't play."
"Then find one," Buffy said with a shrug. "There are over a hundred Gryffindors and I'm sure that at least one of them will know how to play."
" They'll never be as good as Jason." James said.
"So?" Buffy said. "At least you won't have to forfeit. And maybe if you train hard enough these next three weeks you guys might actually win. It's better than nothing." She added seeing James's doubtful face.
"Buffy's right," Sirius said and the rest of the team voiced their agreements.
"Okay," James said with a nod. "We're going to hold tryouts."
"Right now?" asked Jaq.
"Right now." James answered firmly. " The sooner we pick our seeker, the sooner we can start practicing. And I want the whole team there."
There was a chorus of groans. "But James-"
"No buts," James said. "You guys are going to help me pick out our new seeker. It's only fair since you will be working with him."
"Or her," Jaq said hopefully.
"Why don't you guys head out to the pitch and we'll go to the Gryffindor Common Room and announce the tryouts?" Andy suggested.
"Good idea." James said. "C'mon team."
The Gryffindor Quidditch team walked out the door that lead to the pitch and the girls went up the stairs.
"The Golden Snitch." Buffy said to the fat lady. The portrait swung open and the girls went into the Gryffindor Common room, which was filled with students.
"Hey guys," called Andy but nobody heard her above the chatter. She took out her wand and said, "Sonorous." Immediately her voice became ten times louder.
"PEOPLE!" Andy shouted. Everybody stopped whatever they had been doing and turned to Andy. She removed the charm. " Thanks. Now, I have some good news and some bad news. I'm sure that you're all wondering how Jason's doing. Unfortunately, he's not doing so well and he's been taken to St. Mungo's. That's the bad news. The good news is that he'll make a full recovery and will with us in a few months."
"Andy, hurry up and get to the point." Buffy said. The girl could be such a drama queen sometimes.
"I'm getting there." Andy said. "Anyway, since Jason isn't here, our Quidditch team is in need of a seeker and they have decided to hold tryouts. Anybody can try out except for first years, cos their not allowed to play. Oh and it would help if you had your own broom and have at least ridden on a broomstick before."
"When are tryouts?" somebody called.
"Right now." Andy announced cheerfully. When nobody made any effort to move she added, "Well, what are you all waiting for?"
The girls watched as everybody scrambled to be the first to go down.
"Should we go down?" Lily asked Buffy and Andy.
"Nah," Buffy decided. "Unless one of you wants to tryout-"
"Not me." Andy said.
"Me either." Lily answered.
"Fine, let's play Exploding Snap." Buffy said, sitting down on a now vacant couch.
"Don't you ever get tired of that game?" Lily asked.
"No, it's fun." Buffy said smiling.
"You guys play without me. I've got tons of homework to do." Lily said, going up the stairs.
Three hours later, Buffy and Andy had played over twenty games of Exploding Snap and Lily had finished with all her homework but the Quidditch tryouts were still underway.
"What do you say we go down and see what's going on?" Buffy suggested.
"I'm with you." Andy said and Lily nodded.
The girls went down to the Quidditch pitch, which was very crowed. It looked like half the school had turned out to watch the tryouts, including the Slytherins, who were having the time of their lives taunting the Gryffindors.
"Uh oh," Buffy said. "James doesn't look very happy."
"Are you kidding me? He looks furious." Lily said.
"No wonder. They've been down here for three hours, they missed lunch and they still don't have a seeker." Andy said.
The girls walked up to James just as he was turning away a chubby third year without even letting him tryout.
"You should've at least let him try," Buffy said reprovingly.
James sighed and ran his fingers thru his hair. "That would've been a waste of time. He'd never do. To be a seeker you have to have speed and balance, in order to do that you have to have a small body. Kinda like yours. You'd be perfect if only you knew how to fly." He turned back to the line of Gryffindors who were waiting for their turn.
Sirius who had been sprawled on the grass looked up with a gleam in his eye. "Prongs, you're brilliant!" he said, getting up.
"I am?" James asked warily.
"Of course!" Andy said, catching on to what Sirius meant.
"What? What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Buffy said nervously as she slowly started to be back.
"What's going on?" James asked.
Lily looked confused. "What are you guys talking about?" she demanded. "And why are you staring at –oh," she said as she also understood. "You're right!"
By now Buffy had also caught on and she didn't like where the conversation was headed on bit. "Before you say anything, let me just say no. No, no, no. Not on your life. It's crazy and it will never work."
"But Buffy-" Sirius protested.
James put two fingers in his mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. Immediately everybody stopped talking. "Thank you," James said pleasantly. "Now will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?"
"Nothing," Buffy said quickly.
Sirius ignored her. "Buffy would be a perfect candidate for a seeker. You already said she has the right build and I know for a fact that she can fly." He argued.
"Yeah," chimed in Andy. "She's amazing. Granted, she flies like a manic but the point is, she can fly."
"Really?" James asked interestedly. "I didn't know you could fly. When did you learn?"
"Umm, this morning?" Buffy said hesitantly. James face fell.
"Don't listen to her, Prongs. She's a natural. The minute she got on that broom it was like she was born to fly." Sirius said.
"You guys are exaggerating." Buffy said.
"Well, it's worth a try." James said, scratching his head. "Okay, what you're going to do is mount your broom and fly into the air. I'm going to let go of the snitch and you have to catch it. Try to catch it as fast as you can."
"I don't have a broom," Buffy said.
"You can use my broom." Sirius offered.
"But, wait, don't I have a say in this?" Buffy asked helplessly.
"Nope." Lily said practically shoving the broom in Buffy's hand.
"None whatsoever," Andy added as she pushed Lily onto the field.
"But, but-" Buffy sputtered. "Fine, I'll do it."
"On the count of three, start flying." James instructed. "One, two, three."
Buffy mounted the broom and expertly kicked off the ground. She flew around the pitch quickly to get warmed up. Buffy looked down and grinned. Even though she was pretty high up, she could see James slack jaw and the stunned looks on the faces of the Slytherins.
"Okay Buffy, I'm letting go of the snitch," James shouted, recovering. "Let it fly around for about a minute. I'll tell you when to start going after it."
Buffy waited until she heard James shout at her to start moving. She scanned the pitch for the snitch. It had gotten a pretty good head start but thanks to her slayer senses she quickly zoned in on the little winged ball. To her dismay, it was right next to the group of Slytherins. Buffy slowly started to smile as she got an idea. She jerked the broom upwards, gaining altitude and moving farther and farther away from the Slytherins and the snitch. When she was exactly opposite of them she turned around sharply and dived, leaning all the way into the broom, going as fast as she could. As she got closer, Buffy saw that the Slytherins were all frozen in their spots with dumbstruck looks on their faces.
"Get out the way," Buffy shouted when she was in hearing range. Just before she collided into them, the Slytherins scattered in different directions. Buffy reached out and closed her fist around the struggling snitch.
"I got it!" She said waving her hand triumphantly. She flew back to where her friends stood and gently landed.
James shook his head. "Andy was right you do fly like a manic," He said. "But Padfoot was also right. You are an amazing flier. You were bloody brilliant out there! How long -or should I say short- did it take her to catch the snitch, Padfoot?"
Sirius glanced at the stopwatch in his hand and let out a low whistle. "Just under twenty-eight seconds."
"Wow," Jaq said. "The only person who came even close to your record today caught the snitch in seven minutes."
"That's it then," James said decidedly. "You have to join the team, Buffy."
"Only if you want to," Andy added quickly, seeing that her friend looked less than thrilled with the idea.
Buffy looked at her friends' hopeful faces and James's pleading one. Slowly she nodded.
James let out a whoop and enveloped Buffy in a bear hug. Somebody cried, "Group hug!" and the rest of the team joined in.
What have I just gotten myself into? Buffy wondered.
XxXxXxXxXxX
Hope that this chapter was worth the wait. I know it was kinda pointless (okay extremely pointless) but nevertheless necessary. Please review and tell me what you thought. I'll try and have chapter ten up soon.
Lots love,
The Dragon's Lady
