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Chapter 10

Gryffindor quidditch tryouts went wonderfully. Ametti made the team, filling the keeper spot left by James. Fred and Al kept their spots as beaters. Two fifth years, Charity and Alistair, and a fourth year, Landon, filled the empty chaser spots. Lilly, who had easily out flown the rest of the team, kept her spot as seeker. The team looked even more promising than the last few Gryffindor teams, all of which had won the quidditch cup.

Al took his role as quidditch captain quite seriously. He scheduled practices before class as well as after class and on weekends. Lilly became so exhausted, she was relying heavily on the skiving snack boxes and other school skipping products that her uncles had been sending.

Still not sleeping, Lilly was visiting the hospital wing every couple of weeks just so Madam Appleton would give her a sleeping draft so she could get some dreamless sleep. She was only getting a few hours of sleep a night before the nightmare would comeback, robbing her of the rest of the night. Her dream never changed. She always got to the clearing just a moment too late.

The lack of sleep was starting to affect her physically as well. Her tiny 4'10 frame seemed as though it had shrank as October wore on. Her vibrant red hair and shining blue eyes seemed to dull as the month inched to a close. Al was constantly asking if she was all right and now her cousins, friends, and even teachers were beginning to question her health.

"I'm fine!" Lilly snapped as she pulled her quidditch robes over her head one early November morning. Ametti and Felina exchanged looks.

"Lil, we heard you tossing in bed all night," Felina said gently, sitting down on the edge of Lilly's four-poster. Lilly rolled her eyes.

"I'm just nervous for the match today." Lilly shrugged, tying her shoes.

"How can you be nervous? You've been on the team since your second year! You've caught every snitch since. This should be just another day to you. I'm the one that should be nervous!" Ametti pointed out. Lilly rolled her eyes.

"Whatever!" She barked. "I'm going down to eat. I'll see you guys down there." Lilly snatched up her broom before storming out of the room and down the stairs.

As Lilly made her way through the common room, she ignored the few good luck calls she heard and hurried through the portrait hole and down to the great hall. To her relief, she saw that only a few students had gotten down to the hall so early. She settled into a spot near the end of the table, alone. She's been spending a lot of time by herself. Her lack of sleep had made her nearly unbearable to others, and they to her.

Lilly nibbled on a piece of toast as she let her mind wonder. She hadn't been anywhere near Malfoy since the morning on the stairs over a month ago. However, he still appeared in her dreams occasionally. This terrified her. She felt even more uneasy when she woke from those nightmares. Something about him being there made him consume her thoughts for the next several days. He, however, seemed to be avoiding her just as much as she was avoiding him.

Lilly continued picking at her breakfast as students began to filter in. The benches next to her filled with her teammates and family, all chattering happily, occasionally pulling her into a brief conversation. After nearly 15 minutes of idle chat, Lilly caught sight of sleek hair and green robes entering the hall. For a split second, Scorpius' gray eyes captured Lilly's blue eyes. Quickly she tore hers away.

"Maybe we should get down to the pitch," she suggested, standing up. Al glanced down at his watch.

"Gryffindor, to the locker room!" He ordered. As the team stood and headed out of the hall, they were greeted with applause and well wishes. A noticeable tension settled over the team as they passed through the doors and out on to the ground. The new team members looked slightly sick, Lilly looked vacant, Fred continued to talk nervously and Al had adopted the look of a mad man.

"Ok team, we don't want to be the team to break the five year cup winning streak, so we have to leave our hearts on the field," he said inside the locker room. He paced in front of the team. "We are one of the best teams that Hogwarts has ever seen and that cup is ours to lose." Fred nodded adamantly. "Ametti, make sure to watch that left hoop, it's the only one you've let goals through, concentrate on it. Alistair, Landon, Charity, their keeper, Benet, is easily led astray. Use the quick passes in front of the goal we've been practicing, that should bring him away from the goal leaving it empty. Fred, keep doing what you do best." Fred beamed. "Lil, all you have to do is keep your eyes open and keep yourself out of the way. We know how the Slytherin beaters like to aim for the seekers." Lilly knew; she'd suffered a broken ankle the last time they had met. "If we can all do that, this match should be a piece of cake." The team did a quick chant as they heard the rumbling of the bleachers filling with students. The team scattered around the locker room to get their thoughts together. Lilly sat in a corner and closed her eyes. She forced her thoughts out of her mind completely, focusing only on her up coming job.

As she headed out to the pitch with the rest of her team, she thought of nothing but the snitch. As she kicked off the ground before the game started, she felt the familiar itching in her palm. She longed to feel the metal of the snitch in her hand. She always felt that way before a game. She loved the feeling of the wings of the tiny ball beating against her hand as she grasped it.

Lilly filled her lungs with the crisp air and looked around her. In the air around her was the rest of her Gryffindor team along with seven Slytherins. It was the first time she was really getting a good look at the hulking team. This year they had stuck with their grand tradition of size over talent. Half of the team looked shaky in the air; all of them, however, were easily twice the size of Lilly, at least. Their seeker was tall and heavy, the opposite of the traditional build. Lilly continued to scan the field. She caught sight of Malfoy lining up with the other two Slytherin chasers. She was oddly drawn to his shining hair, while being repulsed by him at the same time. She shook him out of her mind as the whistle blew.

Lilly floated up and began to scan the pitch for the tiny gold ball fluttering near by. She made a few laps as she did so, noticing that the other seeker was keeping a close eye on her. This had been his routine all of the following year. He had never actually looked for a snitch; he just waited to see what the other seeker would do. It was a tactic that irritated Lilly to no end. She quickly turned her broom away from him to ignore him.

Lilly kept her ears open, trying to keep track of what was going on in the game without watching it. She couldn't afford to be watching the rest of the action. Three minutes in, Gryffindor already had a fifty point lead, and Lilly knew it would be a much easier game than she had anticipated..

"And Malfoy intercepts the quaffle!" the Ravenclaw announcer's voice carried. His name caught Lilly's ear and she watched as he flew gracefully, dodging a bludger her brother sent after him. Malfoy made a move to the right drawing Ametti off and he sent the quaffle sailing through the left hoop. "He scores! Gryffindor 50, Slytherin 10!" Lilly rolled her eyes and continued to search for the tiny gold streak she was so accustomed to seeing.

The game continued with the Gryffindor's knack for teamwork and strategy against brute strength and Scorpius Malfoy's graceful flying. Occasionally, Lilly caught herself looking not for the snitch, but for the shine of his hair. The other seeker continued to stick close to her, not even trying to pretend he was looking for the snitch. Lilly would sometimes make a sharp dive only to pull out of it at the last moment in hopes of catching him off guard.

After a half hour, the score was in Gryffindor's favor 210-70, and Lilly was continuing to fly high above to pitch. She had never gone so far into a match without seeing some sign of the snitch and frustration was bubbling inside of her. She found her attention kept wondering to Malfoy. He had scored all seven of his teams' goals and Lilly had stopped to watch every one of them. A sharp whistle broke through the cheering of the crowd and Lilly saw that Al had called a time out.

"You ok up there Lil?" Ametti asked as they flew to the ground. Lilly nodded.

"Lilly, you need to concentrate up there!" Al snapped as the team huddled up. "I keep seeing you watching the game instead of looking for the snitch." Lilly's face turned red.

"I'm looking for the snitch!" She said crossly. "I'm just..." She trailed off, lamely, not having an excuse. Al rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, just try and concentrate ok?" He said. She nodded and the team was back in the air before Mr. Holly could tell them to do so.

As Lilly soared above the pitch, she wiped everything from her mind but the tiny gold ball and within seconds, she saw the tiny thing fluttering in the middle of the pitch. With a burst of speed, she flattened herself against the broom and sped for the snitch. She reached out her arm, but before she could reach it, a green clad back appeared in front of her. She had no time to react. She collided with the person in front of her. Her broom flipped, sending her flying through the air. A hand clamped the back of her robes and held her as she watched her broom fall to the ground. She looked up into the panicked face of Scorpius Malfoy, who had caught her. He had been the one who had flown in front of her. However, before either had had a moment to react, a bludger that had been sent towards Lilly before the collision made contact with Malfoy's back, sending both people hurtling 60 feet to the ground.