I have tried to write this chapter a total of 2 times. The first time I had James as a seeker (thank you Kelly!) and that got totally messed up. Next, something happened where I had Lily come down with some kind of "love fever" and started acting all weird around James and going to apologize to him…it was very strange, and so I gave up…I just couldn't get it right.

But, never fear, the next chapter is here! It's pretty much what I had in mind the first time I tried writing this…..so read and review and enjoy!

-Elise Bentwin-

Chapter 10: Quidditch Game

"GO GRYFFINDOR! GO GRYFFINDOR! GO GRYFFINDOR!" Lily yelled and cheered along with the rest of her house as the Gryffindor Quidditch team flew out onto the pitch. Lily caught sight of James as he came to a stop by the goalposts and scanned the field eagerly. Lily gave him a half hearted wave, trying to catch his eye.

"Lily, what are you doing?" Olivia asked.

"Er…I'm waving," Lily answered, blushing.

"To James?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?" Lily looked down at her gloves and became engrossed in the black thread sticking out of her left pinky finger.

"Because, she just can't get enough of him!" a voice crowed from behind Lily. She whirled around and blushed even harder as she came face to face with Sirius.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asked slowly, looking at Lily questioningly.

"Olivia, it's nothing-"

"Nothing! Nothing? What are you talking about Lillian!" Sirius cried. "The poor boy couldn't sleep last night because of what you did!"

"What did you do to him, Lily?" Olivia demanded, narrowing her eyes in suspicion; Sirius grinned.

"She kissed him!" he yelled.

"On the cheek!" Lily added desperately; it took a few moments for their words to penetrate Olivia's brain.

"You WHAT!" she screeched; Lily clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shut up!" she hissed.

"Well, I'd better be off to do the commentary," Sirius said, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning roguishly. He tried to move away but Lily caught him by the arm and sent daggers his way.

"You're dead," she whispered threateningly.

"What? What did I do?" Sirius whined, extracting himself from Lily's grip.

"I think you traumatized this poor girl for life, Sirius," Remus replied, walking up to Olivia and tapping her on the shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," Olivia replied, staring blankly at Remus's face.

"Oh well…sorry about that," Sirius said. "But if Lily hadn't kissed James-"

"Did someone say my name?" At the sound of his voice, Lily felt her heart leap up into her throat; she slowly turned around, her face burning as she looked at James Potter.

"Oi! James, nice to see you! How's the weather?" Sirius asked; James furrowed his brow and ran his fingers through his already messy hair.

"Well, it could be a bit less windy…but other than that-"

"JAMES POTTER! Get over here now! We are ready to start the game!" Madam Hooch yelled, blowing her whistle several times.

"Gotta fly," James said, adjusting his glasses and looking straight at Lily. He smiled slightly and then flew off to the center of the pitch.

"See you around!" Sirius said, dashing up to the top of the box where Professor McGonagall sat, impatiently waiting for him to start the commentary.

"Oh Lily…I can't believe you did that!" Olivia said, burying her face in her hands.

"Oh Olivia…it's going to be alright!"

"Why did you do that?" Lily sighed and hugged her friend.

"Honestly, I have no clue."

"Well, the most you're gonna get out of this is just another proposal for a date with Potter!" Olivia commented, raising her head. "You just gave him more hope that you will-"

"Olivia, please!" Lily said, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's not that bad! I'm glad I gave him more hope!"

"W-what?" Lily opened her mouth to reply, and then realized what she had just said.

"Er, did I just say that?"

"I'm afraid you did," Remus answered from behind her. Lily turned around and saw him smiling warmly at her; she felt her face grow red.

"Well, don't tell him that…please?"

"Why not?" Remus asked.

"Because…I-I…I'm not sure if it's true…yet," Lily responded, fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist.

"Well…let me tell you something," Remus said, slinging an arm around her shoulders and gesturing out towards the Quidditch field where James was flying towards the goal posts with the Quaffle in hand. He moved to the right and so did the Keeper, but he faked again to the left, shot and scored. The Gryffindors erupted wildly in applause. "He's really not that bad. You just have to give him a chance. Sure, he can be a prat sometimes…but so can we all; we're only human. We can't be perfect."

"I know," Lily said.

"He's just being himself…being the James Potter whom we've all come to love…and hate." Lily laughed. "But really, he can be caring…and decent, and not always such a big prat. I'm sure if you-"

"JAMES POTTER SCORES AGAIN!" Sirius yelled through the microphone; the Gryffindors cheered again. "IT'S 20-0 GRYFFINDOR!"

"Thanks, Remus," Lily murmured.

"No problem," Remus replied squeezing her shoulder. "Just think about what I said."

"Oh, I will," Lily promised.

"Potter passes to Duffley, Duffley passes to Parkinson, who shoots and-" Boos erupted from Gryffindor as Brandon shot and missed the golden hoop by a good 5 feet.

"Come on Parkinson! You can do better than that!" Sirius yelled. "Or is your breakup with the pretty Miss Evans just too much for you to handle?"

"Black!" Professor McGonagall yelled, reaching for the microphone, but Black yanked it away.

"Sorry, Professor," he said as the Gryffindors laughed; Lily blushed.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT BLACK!" Parkinson bellowed from the pitch.

"Oh ho! Wanna fight?" Black retorted, earning yet another glare from Professor McGonagall. Brandon pulled up right above the box Lily was in and glared at Black.

"Sure, why not?" he asked.

"Parkinson! Get back in the game! NOW!" Madam Hooch yelled. Grudgingly Brandon flew back to join his teammates, but not before glaring hatefully at Lily.

"Alright…well, we didn't miss Parkinson much as the score is now 40-0 GRYFFINDOR!"

"BLACK!" Professor McGonagall screeched. Lily laughed and glanced up at the sky, searching for James. She found him hovering near the middle of the pitch, gesturing for Duffley to pass him the ball. He did, and James caught it expertly, flying off towards the goalposts. Lily scanned the field eagerly, cheering along with the rest of the Gryffindors. She spotted Crabbe, one of the Slytherin beaters, raising his bat and getting ready to hit the bludger…who was he aiming for?

Lily felt her heart fill with dread as she saw who was in Crabbe's line of sight: James. He raised his bat and hit the bludger."JAMES!" Lily screamed. "WATCH OUT!" All the spectators held their breath as they watched the bludger speed towards James. He raised his head at the sound of his name, but it was too late. With a sickening crunch the bludger collided with his shoulder and James keeled over off his broom and fell towards the ground; Lily and Olivia screamed.

"WHAT'S HAPPENED TO JAMES? HE'S FALLING TOWARDS THE GROUND! SOMEBODY, HELP HIM!" Sirius bellowed, but he needn't have worried. Dumbledore stood up in the stands, raised his wand, and lowered James slowly to the ground. Suddenly, cheering erupted from the Slytherin end of the field. Lily tore her eyes off of James and looked up and saw Keiser, the Slytherin seeker holding up his hand in triumph. Remus held up a pair of binoculars and focused them in on Keiser. Seconds later, he lowered them with a grim look on his face.

"What the hell is Keiser doing?" Sirius asked, glancing at Professor McGonagall and waiting to be reprimanded. But she wasn't paying attention. She was staring down at James who lay sprawled on the field, unmoving.

"Someone help him!" Peter squealed peering over the edge of the box. "Someone help James!"

"Oh wait…he's caught the Snitch…well done," Sirius grumbled, cursing under his breath. Cheers erupted from the Slytherins, but Lily could've cared less. She stared down at the pitch where Professor Dumbledore was bent over James, examining his shoulder; Lily couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing Olivia's hands, she dragged her down the stairs behind the box and onto the field.

"Lily, stop! What are you doing?" Olivia demanded, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to a stop.

"I have to see if he's alright!" Lily shrieked, worming out of Olivia's grasp and running towards him. Olivia sighed and quickly, but grudgingly, followed her.

"Since when have you cared, Lily?" she asked, but Lily didn't reply, because she herself didn't even know.

"Lily…" James called out weakly as Lily ran to his side and knelt beside him.

"Oh, James…are you alright?" Lily asked softly, kneeling beside him and instinctively grabbing his hand.

"Yeah…I'll be fine." James winced as Dumbledore gently touched his shoulder.

"It's definitely broken…and probably some torn ligaments," the professor said. "We'd better get you to Madam Pomfrey as soon as possible."

"I'll help you," Lily volunteered, clutching James's hand tighter and pulling him to his feet; his hand was hot: the sensation made her heart thump wildly in her chest.

"Thanks," James murmured, wincing as he tried to flex his other hand.

"You shouldn't try to move it…it'll only hurt it more," Lily said promptly; James grinned.

"Yes, Dr. Evans." They stood there for a few more moments…Lily staring deep into his eyes. What is wrong with me? James glanced down at her hand, which was still tightly clutching his, and then looked back at her, a flirtatious smile dancing on his face; Lily immediately let go.

"Oh, well, I'd better go," she stuttered.

"Come, Mr. Potter, to the Hospital Wing," Professor Dumbledore said, who had been watching the exchange with much amusement. With a last smile at Lily, James turned and followed Dumbledore off the field, gingerly holding his arm, followed by his teammates who were all more concerned for their Captain than the fact that they'd just lost to Slytherin. Everyone on the team was there….except for Brandon. Lily looked around and spotted him on the edge of the field, talking avidly to Crabbe and Snape; angrily Lily strode towards them.

"Lily…" Olivia said warningly. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to yell at Crabbe," she replied. As she got closer, Lily thought she saw the gleam of gold in Brandon's hands…she was not mistaken. He counted 3 galleons and dumped them into Crabbe's outstretched hand.

"Nice hit, Crabbe," he said, nodding to Snape who gave him another 3 galleons. "Too bad it didn't hit his head." Crabbe shrugged.

"Well, I tried," he protested.

"Yes, you did," Snape agreed. "But next time, aim for his head, or we're not giving you any money."

"Aim for his head?" Lily shrieked as she bore down upon the three boys, all of whom were a good head taller than she was. "His head?" Brandon smirked.

"Well, yes of course Lily. You see, the plan was-"

"To kill James?" Lily finished, in an unnaturally high voice. "How dare you!"

"How dare you!" Snape mimicked; he smirked at her. "Crabbe here will do anything-" But Snape never finished his sentence for the next moment he was clutching his cheek, which was bright red where Lily had slapped him.

"Lily…" Olivia whispered warningly from behind her.

"Filthy little Mudblood!" Snape hissed, removing his hand from his cheek. "You'll pay for that!"

"Oh indeed?" Lily responded. "I'm surprised you could afford to pay Crabbe 3 galleons you greasy slimy git!"

"SECTUMSEMPRA!" Lily felt pain shoot across her chest and she felt blood run down her arm, before everything blacked out.

&)&)&)&)&)&)&)&)&)&)&)&)&)

Snape slumped down on one of the couches in the Slytherin common room, twiddling his wand between his thumbs. Why had he hexed Lily? Why had he caused her so much pain?

Because she insulted you! Snape shook his head…that wasn't a good reason….to hex her at least. Beautiful Lily Evans…with her shining red hair and deep emerald eyes. Snape buried his head in his hands…he could never have her…never ever. After what he saw on the Quidditch pitch, he knew it was folly. The way they'd looked at each other…they looked perfect together; no one would ever look good with Severus Snape…the school outcast.

That was why he'd joined up with Lord Voldemort…the power he gained was more than Lily or James could ever have…the feeling of unity he shared with the Dark Lord.

Lord Voldemort and the Half Blood Prince…now those went perfectly together.

A/N: !SPOILERS! Now, I think, that after reading Half Blood Prince, that Snape is good…but I wanted to put some "teenage angst" in here…and I think that when he was at Hogwarts, he was probably totally devoted to Lord Voldemort. I just want to know what made Dumbledore trust him…but that will come later. Hope you enjoyed it! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!

-Elise-