Chapter Eleven
"I DON'T CARE IF HE WAS AT THE FEAST WITH YOU!" Riana shouted, her round face contorted angrily and her dark eyes shining with tears that were tempted to fall out of her eyes.
"YOU ARE FILLED WITH FALSE BELIEFS!" Felicity cried as her own dark eyes blackened with anger as she looked at Riana. "He likes me, just get over it!"
Lily was sitting a little away from her shouting friends, who were attracting a lot of attention from the other Gryffindors in the common room on this Friday evening. She was sitting by the window, trying to read her book on Ancient Runes which was to be read by next class, but it was hard to read when your best friends were fighting verbally on top of their lungs.
"You think you've got him, just because you have Muggle Studies together!" Riana screamed.
Felicity gave a hollow laugh. "And you think he likes you?! He told me himself that you were pathetic at flying!"
People whispered and sniggered at Felicity and Riana, who were now in the middle of the common room, staring angrily at each other. Lily had a half mind to get up and place a Silencing Charm on both of them, when Riana left the common room aburptly, crying as she ran through the portrait hole. Lily looked at Felicity and saw her stare furiously after her for a moment, and then leave the common room, her footsteps sounded until she reached the dormitory where she shut the door with an unusually loud thud.
Lily was glad that it was finally the weekend, looking forward to the prospects of just relaxing after a hard weeks work, which was filled with endless prefect duties and many complicated assignments due for her lesson all at once. It also didn't help that Lily received a low grade on her recent Transfiguration essay, making her week a long and tiring one. Lily did have a lot of homework still left to do; reading up on the use of runes and translations for Ancient Runes, a sheet of complicated problems for Arithmancy, an essay on the Amortentia for Potions and on top of it all she had to re-write the Transfiguration essay on a new law of transfiguring. It was going to be another hectic weekend, but at least she could get a good night's sleep, which she has been deprived of for a long time.
Lily was returning back to her book with full concentration, when a loud bark of a laugh interrupted her. She looked up from her book once again and saw Sirius sitting in front of the fire, talking animatedly to James, Remus and Peter along with two boys from the Gryffindor Quidditch team. His features were filled with amusement as he looked over at James, who ruffled his hair once more, smiling through his round glass as he looked at Sirius talk. Lily suddenly felt that tingling feel again, but made her head move away from looking at James and tried to make the stupid feeling disappear, making herself think about other things.
But it was inevitable; Lily couldn't help but look over at James every few seconds. Why was she doing this? What made her eyes linger over to him? It was even harder to look away once Alice appeared and made a full display of affection that caused many to cat call at them.
With all of these distractions, Lily couldn't concentrate on her book, and thought it would be good to go up to dormitory. She was about to do so when Riana appeared, her eyes blood shot with tears, not looking at anyone else as she made her way through the common room and up the stairs. Lily was halfway out of her chair and had paused to watch, but sat back down. She was in no mood to witness Felicity and Riana's pre-bed fight which occurred every night, resulting in one or the other crying to sleep and Lily consoling her.
It was nearing midnight when the common room finally emptied and Lily fell into her book with full absorption for once. The group of boys including James were still up, but now they were having fun eating Bertie Bott' Every Flavoured Beans. Their laughter didn't disturb Lily as much as the common room was mostly empty except for her and the boys. Lily read on, and wasn't distracted until Sirius and James said a loud goodbye to Alex and Derek Loomstone who went up to their dormitories.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter stayed in the common room. James was now talking about the upcoming Quidditch match Gryffindor against Ravenclaw which was tomorrow, Sirius was bewitching a book to fly around the common room, Remus was reading the Evening Prophet and Peter was listening intently to James. Lily suddenly felt something bump against her head hard and felt a lump rise there as she placed her book down and looked around. She saw a book flying above her and glanced at Sirius, who was levitating it with his wand.
"Black!" Lily exclaimed as she messaged the place where the book had hit her.
Sirius tried hard not to smirk. "Er, sorry Evans."
Lily's head was throbbing now, the book had hit her much harder than she thought as the pain spread out and became a painful headache. Lily closed her eyes due to the pain. "Ugh!" she was getting mad at Sirius, the same anger filling her every time he annoyed her. It didn't help as he let out a small laughter, with James and Peter laughing along. "It's not funny!" Lily cried as she opened her eyes and stood up.
Lily saw Sirius smirk even harder as she made her way towards him, glaring.
"Oh no! She's coming to get me!" Sirius said in a mock frightened voice, which made Lily even madder.
"You great big buffoon!" Lily said angrily. She grabbed Remus's newspaper out of his hands and hit Sirius with it. "You attention seeking idiot!"
Sirius grabbed the newspaper as he stood up from his sofa, preventing Lily to hit him anymore. The smirk on his handsome face widened. "Attention seeking, am I?"
Lily glared at him and let go of the newspaper. She turned her back to his stupid grin and was about to leave when Sirius pulled her back. "Now, wait just a minute, Evans." He made Lily turn around and face him.
Lily crossed her arms and looked anywhere but at Sirius.
"Sirius." James said warningly.
"Relax, Prongs." Sirius said in a smooth voice. "I am not going to hurt her. I just want her to take her accusation back."
Lily looked into Sirius's dark grey eyes. "My accusation? You doubt that you are an attention seeking fool?"
Sirius's face looked hurt and had a fake surprised expression. "You think I am attention seeking? My, why on earth would I be such a shallow person?"
Lily's anger increased and she gulped to prevent her from saying anything indecent, though she really wanted to.
Sirius took Lily's silence to look over at James and smile. Peter was sniggering loudly. "I personally don't think I am such a bad character. But, Evans here thinks otherwise." He said, as if announcing to everyone the situation. "So, Evans. Let's have it, then. Why do you think I am an 'attention seeking fool'?"
Lily took a deep breath. "You idiot! You just love all those hopeless girls who surround you every day, just because you are good looking and a Quidditch player!" Lily spat.
James's eyes widened. "You think Sirius is good looking?" he asked in a slightly worried voice. But Lily ignored him.
"Well, look around, Evans. I see no girl...unless you're counting you. The only girl in sight around me is you, meaning you are one of those hopeless girls too!"
James made an attempt to clear his throat but sounded odd. Lily continued to glare at Sirius. "I am not on any level hopeless enough to be an idiot like all those girls. You love any attention you can get from any girl, no matter how old she is! As long as she had breasts, you're happy!" She said through her gritted teeth.
Sirius sneered. "So, are you calling you're best friends idiots?"
Lily looked disgustingly at him "Do you know how much trouble you are causing them?" She felt her anger intensify at the mention of the warfare going on between her best friends, thinking about how they are falling apart as each day goes by.
Sirius winked at James. "It's up to them, isn't it? What can I do if they both like me?"
"Well," she said through her gritted teeth. "You can pick one of them or just tell them you are not interested!"
Sirius sneered at Lily. "And why in the name of Merlin would I want to do that? It's not my fault they find me so attractive. Besides," he said, sneering even wider as James walked around Lily to stand beside Sirius. Sirius gave him a wink. "I enjoy to attention. So I guess you're right, I am an attention seeking fool, Evans, and love it!"
James punched Sirius lightly on the shoulder, smirking.
Lily let out a huge grunt. "UGH! You are so – so –"
"Self-centred?" James said helpfully, looking sheepishly at her as he ran his hand through his messy hair.
Lily glowered at him and then turned her back to them and grabbed her book from where she had left it. Without another word, Lily left the common room, hoping that her friends were done their nightly fight and were asleep.
James watched her red hair disappear from sight as Sirius sniggered along with Peter. He turned to look at them, sitting side by side with the same look on their faces. James rolled his eyes and couldn't help but smile along too.
"Padfoot, honestly." James said, shaking his head as he reached for the Evening Prophet. "She's got enough on her mind without you biting at her." He sat down and started reading the headline.
Sirius laughed his bark like laugh. "Ah, don't worry Prongs. It's all good fun. I love the way she takes things so seriously. Not – Not as if I like her." He added under James's dark stare.
James knew that Sirius only bugged Lily because she was really easy to wind up. But sometimes he felt their bickering toed the line and wondered if Sirius enjoyed bugging her for other reasons...but James trusted Sirius, more than anyone else at Hogwarts. He was his first best friend in the whole world and nothing would get between them.
He read on about the mysterious murder of a family by the Killing Curse and couldn't help thinking about Lily, sleeping in her bed...
***
The next morning dawned to be a rather cold one, but with a clear sky and not a single breeze of strong winds, which meant good Quidditch conditions. James and Sirius entered the Great Hall and were greeted by a huge round of applause coming from the Gryffindor table. Alice didn't waste another thought and was by James's side before he could take one bite of his cereal as he sat down with the rest of the team and Remus and Peter.
"It's going to be okay," Remus said as he sat beside James.
But James was looking slightly nervous. He hasn't spoken about his true feelings on the chances of winning the first match of the season...they were not that great. What with all the detentions Sirius and James have gotten over the course of the last two month, Sirius ending up in the hospital wing for a week, James there for two weeks, making time for practices was not an easy feat. They mostly got two practices a week and had spend all of Saturday on the pitch too, but all in all, they haven't had much practice as James had hoped. Right now, his mind was set for the worst...loosing wouldn't be too bad, it was only the first match of the season...they'll have time to make up for it. But if all goes well, which is also a possibility as James thought this was the best team he has seen in all his years at Hogwarts, it'll be terrific.
Remus seemed to notice James's nervousness and patted him lightly on the back. Suddenly, loud voices sounded from the Entrance Hall. James and Remus turned to look towards the great big oak doors and saw Lily walking fast and red faced as she approached the Gryffindor table and sat down beside Remus, clearly looking angry about something. She grabbed a plate and placed her toast on it, then jabbed it with her fork angrily.
"Um, everything okay? Are you still mad about Sirius?" Remus asked tentatively.
Lily didn't answer, but shook her head. She started reading the morning's edition of the Daily Prophet that someone had left lying around, clearly showing she was in no mood for talk. The loud angry voices from the Entrance Hall became louder and the two arguers entered the Great Hall.
Felicity and Riana were both on the verge of tears as they shouted at each other when entering the Great Hall. Lily grunted behind her newspaper. Felicity, already in her Quidditch robes, swore offensively at Riana, which made her go quite. Professor McGonagall appeared beside them, looking mad.
"Miss Jones, please keep your dirty tongue to yourself!" McGonagall shouted, louder than Felicity had. "You will have detention with me tonight and will apologize to Miss Prewett! Now!"
Lily had placed her newspaper down and saw Felicity hastily apologize to Riana and sit down with the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Riana had sat down on a long way away from Felicity and started eating her breakfast alone. Lily felt no urge to go and console Riana, after what they had just done to her...
"Will they ever get over it?" Remus said, more to himself than Lily.
"Probably not," Lily said briskly. "They are too daft." She jabbed at her toast even harder, so hard that the fork slipped out of her hand.
Remus raised his eyebrows. "Are you okay?"
Lily looked up from her toast and at Remus, her face filled with anger. "Felicity and Riana have passed the line. I give up!" she added, throwing her arms up in the air hysterically. "They are just too much! What the hell do they see in Black anyway?!"
Remus looked sympathetically at Lily as she went back to her breakfast. "It's going to end one day, Lily. You shouldn't get mad at them –"
"Oh, shouldn't I?" Lily interrupted, her face sneering. "Their minds have gone so far into this whole shit that they think I am being insensitive, selfish and whatnot, just because I refuse to take sides in this stupid conflict."
"They'll get over it eventually." Remus said, smiling warmly.
Before Lily could say anything more, James turned to Remus, after a non-vocal greeting from Alice, looking slightly flushed. "I am doomed, Moony. I – I should've planned more seriously."
Remus gave his warm smile to James and patted him on the back. "Look, Prongs. You did your best. All you now have to do is go out there and kick ass! Remember last year's final? That was some game!"
James gave a small smile, thinking about last year's final. "Yeah, last year was great. But –"
Remus held his hand up, looking serious. "No buts. Just think about the way you had played last year and it'll be fine! What's the worst that could happen? You could lose. But it's only the first game of the whole season!"
James gave Remus a small, slightly convinced smile. "I guess you're right. Team!" he called to the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who were all looking at their breakfasts but not touching it. Diana Diggory was looking very green and Calvin McDuff was rocking back and forth in his seat, muttering to himself mindlessly. Felicity was staring daggers into her porridge, her face still filled with anger. They all looked up when James called them. "Time to get dressed."
Remus and Peter wished James and Sirius and the rest of Gryffindor team good luck. Lily, on the other hand, didn't bother to look at Felicity as she filed after the team as they left the Great Hall, followed by a huge round of applause from up and down the Gryffindor table.
"He's really nervous." Remus said as he watched James and the team leave.
"Well, he should've practiced more." Lily said indifferently, looking back at her newspaper, reading the horoscopes. She suddenly looked up from the newspaper and looked at Remus, her eyes wide.
"What?" Remus asked, concerned.
"Today is full moon!" Lily cried.
Remus smiled sadly. "Yeah, it is."
Lily gulped, looking distressed. "I am so sorry! I totally forgot! With this whole business with Felicity and Riana – I was planning on making the essence of Murtlap this week, but I completely forgot!"
"It's okay, Lils." Remus said, not looking up from his breakfast. "I can get by. I am sure Madam Pomfrey will have something –"
"No, don't worry. I'll make it today after the game." Lily said, ignoring what Remus was saying.
"Honestly, Lily. You don't have to. I know you've got a lot of work –" Remus said, pleadingly.
"I can do it, Remus." Lily said smiling warmly. "It's just Felicity and Riana who messed me up."
"What exactly happened this morning?" Remus asked sheepishly.
Lily sighed. "We all had a huge row." She said depressed. "They both turned on me when I said that I was never going to take either of their sides."
"Oh," Remus said, nodding gravely.
Lily pushed her uneaten toast away, not feeling hungry anymore. "We aren't on speaking terms anymore, neither of us."
Though she didn't say it out loud, Lily felt lonely all of a sudden. It washed over her that her friends were really fighting and it didn't seem to get better, it was as if they had never been friends...Sure, they've had disagreements before, but what friendship hasn't? They have gone through days without talking to each other...but Lily had never felt lonely...she always had that other person there, as if waiting for her...Lily's eyes lingered over to the Slytherin table to see Severus Snape, greasy haired and swallow-skinned as ever, eating his breakfast and hunched over, making notes in his copy of Advanced Potion-Making as he usually does. He didn't look up to see Lily looking at him.
Remus, however, had noticed. He looked sincerely at her and placed his arm around her. "You have me, Lils." He said, smiling. Lily looked away from Snape and into Remus's kind and slightly pale face. She broke into a smile and tried not to let the tears that had welled up in her eyes fall. She was touched at Remus's actions.
They both finished breakfast as Remus cheered Lily up by making fun of the so called horoscopes and their ridiculousness in the Daily Prophet. After ten minutes of laughter, he checked his watch and said it was almost time for the game to start, as many students were bundling up with cloaks, scarves and gloves. They both got up and headed down to the stadium together, joining the huge crowd of students who were all heading in the same direction, talking excitedly and all eager to see the first match of the season.
Outside, the stadium was slowly filling up with students, sitting with their houses. Remus and Lily joined Peter and the red and gold clad supporters who were already cheering. But the other side of the stadium, where people dressed in blue and bronze, Ravenclaw supporters, were also making their excitement heard. The weather was cold and Lily pressed cloak around her tightly, but soon she was feeling excited to see the match.
Lily has never been a good Quidditch player, as she had found out when she stayed at Felicity's house for two weeks in the summer where they had played Quidditch with her older brothers. Lily was the worst Keeper in the world and couldn't pass a Quaffle to save her life. But all in all, Lily rather enjoyed watching Quidditch; she loved the fast pace of the game and the excitement of it, as she found out by watching Felicity play for many years now.
"Hello, Remus." Riana said as she suddenly appeared on the other side of Remus. He looked quizzically at her and gave Lily a grimace.
"H – Hi Riana. How are you?" He asked, uncertainly. Lily stiffened beside him.
Though Lily didn't look at her, she heard Riana's answer to be too cheerful that normal. "Oh, I am very well, thanks." Lily glanced at her and saw she was smiling really brightly, though there was a strained vibe coming through her voice.
Remus, Lily nor Riana said any much from then on, as the Gryffindor Quidditch team had appeared on the pitch. Seven people mounted their brooms and soared up into the sky, greeted by the cheers and jeers of the students. James felt his messy hair become smooth from the force of the soft air he was flying through slowly, gathering speed as he went.
"Welcome to the first match of the season!" cried the voice of Rita Skeeter, the fourth year Hufflepuff commentator, who had a habit of gossiping about the players during the Quidditch game, to many people's annoyance. "Today's match up is Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!"
The supporters of the teams exploded with cheers. James felt his face smile, despite his worries. He always loved it when the audience cheer; it urged him on and gave him confidence.
"And here's the Gryffindor team! Loomstone! Diggory! McDuff! Sexy Sirius! Weasley! Jones! Aaannnndddd...our sexy Captain, POTTER!"
Girls from all houses screamed at the mention of 'Sexy Sirius', which is a title Sirius had on the Quidditch pitch. It came from the song they had made up, and were singing it right now.
Sexy Sirius, Sexy Sirius!
We want to ride with you!
Sexy Sirius, Sexy Sirius!
Oh, please take me tonight too!
Lily rolled her eyes as James soared around the stadium as the air filled with shrilling cheers, many of them were girls yelling hoarsely. But many more were screaming the stupid song on top of their lungs, much to Lily's annoyance.
"Let's welcome the Ravenclaw team! Smithson! Freeman! Danson! Keely! Pitt! Chang! Aaannnddd...Captain Johnson!" The blue and bronze clad supporters went wild as the Ravenclaw team soared around the stadium.
"In position, everyone!" James called to his team and saw Derek guard the three hoops, his face filled with concentration, Felicity (looking angry) and Calvin position themselves up front, ready for James's throw of the Quaffle (though Calvin looked slightly green), and Diana soaring high in the sky, ready to move and search for the Snitch when the game will start. Sirius and Alex positioned themselves around James, their Beater bats gripped tightly in their hands. Sirius was conducting another verse of 'Sexy Sirius', using his Beater bat as a baton.
Madam Hooch appeared on her broom, looking around at the team to make sure they were ready to play. She then motioned James and the Ravenclaw captain, Johnson, a muscularly built guy, to the center. "Captains, shake hands." James help out it hand, feeling slightly uneasy now. Johnson shook it, giving him a small nod.
Madam Hooch went down on the pitch and opened the crate in which all the Quidditch balls were kept. She released the Bludgers and then the Snitch. James looked up, squinting in the sun to give Diana a nod. But Diana looked as if she was about to fall of her broom and the sight didn't make James feel any better.
"Returning captain, James Potter has made quite a few changes to the team this year. Of course we still have the handsome hunk Alex Weasley with us – who has been a rather busy boy with his fellow Head Girl, Leanne! Come now, Alex, tell us the truth!" Rita Skeeter's voice thundered out through the stadium. "Anyway, we have Johnson, a new Ravenclaw Captain this year. He has made no changes in the team, which just makes us all wonder –"
Madam Hooch grabbed the Quaffle, looked around at the teams positioned and then released it into the air.
James, having a faster and better reflexes than Smithson, the Ravenclaw Chaser, dived to grab the Quaffle faster than anyone else and head towards the other end of the pitch, thinking of nothing but hoping to see Sirius on his right side...just as they had planned...
"And there goes Potter with the Quaffle! Look at him go! There is no doubt about it – James Potter is the king of all girls. He is currently going out with Alice Prewett, with whom he has had an on and off relationship with her is quite a story!"
James passed the Quaffle to Felicity, ducking a Bludger that he had seen coming. Hoping that Calvin was waiting by the goal posts...James flew up again to see Felicity was ducking Bludgers being sent by the Ravenclaw Beaters and saw no Calvin up at the goal posts. Not sparing a thought as to why Calvin was not where he was supposed to be, James flew rapidly towards the goal posts, catching Felicity's throw and flying fast towards the posts, with only the Keeper in sight...feint right...
"And we all still wonder what's up with him and that Evans! OH – POTTER SCORES! Ten points to this fetching hunk!"
James didn't do his usual lap of victory but flew to where Calvin was, Felicity already screaming at him.
"Uh oh." Rita said in a delighted voice. "Looks like we have a conflict! Time out as both Potter and Jones are talking to the new Chaser, Calvin McDuff and Jones doesn't look happy! Speaking of Jones –"
"Why weren't you up there? You were suppose to score that goal, you great buffoon!" Felicity said, flying closer to Calvin and pushing, making him almost fall of his broom, but James grabbed his by the shoulders and steadied him. Calvin was looked down and not at James or Felicity. James didn't blame him for not looking at Felicity; her short black hair tied up in a ponytail was threatening to come undone as much of her hair was already flying freely, along with her anger filled expression, Felicity looked positively menacing.
"Fel, relax. Cal, just be there next time, okay?" James said softly as he patted Calvin and then flew away.
James nodded to Madam Hooch, who looked over at the Ravenclaw Keeper. The Keeper passed the Quaffle to the nearest Chaser, who dashed up the pitch towards the Gryffindor goal posts.
"There goes Freeman with the Quaffle – passing to Pitt who is rushing up the pitch – OH! Bludger from the famous Sexy Sirius!" James suddenly heard singing in the crowd. Concentrating on watching Calvin, he listened to the song
Sexy Sirius, Sexy Sirius!
Please take us home with you tonight!
Sexy Sirius, Sexy Sirius!
Please love us with all your might!
James laughed whole heartedly and looked around to see Sirius looking very happy. The Gryffindor supporters cheered and James felt his heart lightened. At least something had gone right. Calvin had caught the Quaffle and looked nervous. He stayed stationary for a few moments, looking at the Quaffle as if surprised to see it there. He then looked up, a Ravenclaw Chaser kicked the Quaffle out of his hands and caught it, flew down the pitch and –
"FREEMAN SCORES! Ten points to Ravenclaw! Too bad for those Sexy Sirius supporters." Rita added, sneering.
"MCDUFF!" James heard Felicity yell. She was soaring from behind James with a thunderous look on her face. James grabbed her as she passed him.
"Fel, get back to your position. I handle Cal. Just do it!" James added angrily when Felicity refused. He pushed her slightly. Felicity gave him a horrible look, James was surprised that she hadn't punched him, and went back to her position.
"Well, this new Chaser certainly needs a few improvements." Rita said as the game resumed. James felt something get stuck in his throat...things weren't going al planned at all...
"It's – Freeman – Smithson – Pitt – Freeman again – BLUDGER! From Weasley – Potter – Jones – Jones keeps going up the pitch."
"Fel, PASS IT!" James cried as he rushed by her, seeing Calvin was in his spot by the goal posts. But Felicity ignored him and rushed up the pitch. Suddenly a Bludger hit her squarely in the back, making the grasp she had on the Quaffle release and caught by –
" – Pitt! – Freeman – Smithson – Pitt – Smithson again – Pitt – only the Keeper – PITT SCORES!"
Jeers erupted from the Gryffindor side as a deafening roar sounded from the Ravenclaws.
"Twenty – ten Ravenclaw. What is going on with our favourite team? What's wrong with Gryffindor? I suspect the dramas in these players' lives are coming to play on the pitch –"
Okay, James thought in his head, we have to catch up; it's not that hard...only ten points.
But Ravenclaw scored three more times, despite Sirius and Alex's hits at aiming the Bludger at the Ravenclaw Chasers and Derek's Keeper skills. James was losing his patience with Felicity as she flew up to the red faced Calvin, swearing at him indecently. When Ravenclaw scored for the third time, Felicity punched Calvin hard in the face, making his nose bleed.
"FELICITY!" James shouted over the gasps of the audience. He flew down to Calvin just as Madam Hooch blew the whistle to pause the game. Alex, Diana and Sirius also flew towards Calvin.
"My, my!" Rita said, sounding simply thrilled for a chance to pick at the Gryffindor team. "Outrageous! Felicity Jones had punched her own teammate! I always thought she was a bit full of herself –"
Madam Hooch pointed her wand at Calvin, who looked close to tears. "Episkey." Calvin's nose re-shaped itself and looked normal. Madam Hooch used another charm to clear the blood dripping on his face.
"Felicity," James said, grabbed her away from the rest of the team. "Leave him alone." He gave her a glare and flew away from her as Madam Hooch yelled at Felicity.
Calvin said he was okay enough to play again, but James knew he was dreading to do so. He didn't dare look at Felicity, nor did Felicity say anything about what had just happened to Calvin.
James knew the match was now getting a bit desperate. This was not how James had planned the season to start...but wasn't surprised at the way the match was turning out, seeing as he has been so lazy and careless with the team since he got all those detentions for what he had done to Snape and the stupid prank in Mulciber...
The game recommenced and Ravenclaw got the Quaffle. James didn't know what made him do it, but he grabbed the Chaser's broom and tagged him down. The Chaser looked around and was surprised to see James pulling at his broom tail. Before he knew it, Ravenclaw received a penalty and scored.
"Well, well," Rita said elatedly. "This is some first match to kick of the season!"
As Ravenclaw scored another goal, James turned to Madam Hooch and signalled time out. She nodded and James flew towards the ground, jumping off his broom when he was near enough to the ground. His teammates followed him and they huddled at the end of the pitch.
James glared at Felicity. "What the fuck is your problem today? Don't answer!" James added angrily when Felicity opened her mouth. "I don't care right now. You obviously are out of it. Diana," he turned abruptly to Diana, who jumped at being addressed. "Get the frigging Snitch as fast as you possibly can, okay? Just end this game." Diana gulped nervously, but nodded. James looked round at Derek. "Derek, Ravenclaw is known for feinting, so be ready, you know what to do. Sirius, Alex, you guys are good, but keep a look out around the Chasers because they seemed to be aiming at us. Calvin," James added quietly. "Just – Just try your best." He didn't really know what to say. Calvin was just going to play rubbish, something that James should've foreseen coming, but he had done spectacular during their practices...it was the audience that scared him.
Well, James told himself as he rode into the air, he will need help.
The game started once again, James holding the Quaffle and passing it to Felicity.
"But wait! Ravenclaw Seeker Chang has seen something!" James stopped in mid throw to look over at what Rita was saying. And sure enough, tiny Henrietta Chang, who Sirius had informed James was a brilliant Seeker, was closing around the ground near the Gryffindor goal posts.
James looked to see Diana rushing over to where Chang was going. She was flying incredibly fast and was a complete blur. But – too late, Chang had caught the Snitch. Ravenclaw supporters erupted with cheers, Gryffindors booed. But James didn't take his eyes off of Diana, who didn't stop flying...she was incredibly fast and then – BANG! Diana had lost control of her broom and flew straight into a goal post.
"Shit." muttered James under his breath as he flew towards Diana. Madam Hooch was already there and picking her up. Diana was unconscious and had a huge lump on her forehead.
"Out of the way, Potter." Madam Hooch said as she grabbed Diana and walked out of the pitch as fast as she could, carrying her in her arms.
James was joined by the rest of the team; all were looking dismayed at the sight of Madam Hooch carrying their Seeker away. James then turned to look at the huddle of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and supporters jumping and cheering, with their Seeker in the middle.
"Come on," James said quietly.
They went out of the pitch, the noise of the crowd drowning as they entered the changing room, where the atmosphere was filled with defeat. They changed out of their Quidditch robes, not speaking to each other, but James tried to clear his throat and say a few words of comfort, but they didn't come. Felicity left quickly, not bothering to look at James. Calvin's hand had been injured when the Ravenclaw Chaser had kicked the Quaffle out of his hand. James, Sirius Derek and Alex all accompanied Calvin to the hospital wing. On their way, Remus and Peter joined them, both smiling warmly.
"It's alright, Prongs." Remus said quietly as they walked down the grand staircase. "It was only the first match."
"It was our worst defeat, Remus." James said in a hard voice. "And I am captain...people are going to be talking about this one for years."
"Look Prongs." said Sirius as they reached the corridor to the hospital wing. "We have the whole season –"
"Just leave it." James said as he sped up, grabbing Calvin's arm, as they walked towards the hospital wing. Calvin looked slightly alarmed at James's action and had closed his eyes as if he was expecting him to hit him.
James and Calvin entered the hospital wing and found Madam Pomfrey in her office. She came out at the sight of them and looked slightly angry.
"I am sorry, but Diggory is not allowed visitors as she is asleep –" Madam Pomfrey said sternly.
"Calvin needs his hand mended. I think he broke it." James nodded over to Calvin who was standing slightly behind him.
Madam Pomfrey walked away from James and looked at Calvin's hand. James looked around the hospital wing and saw Diana sleeping with a bandage around her head, peacefully. Madam Pomfrey made Calvin sit on the nearest bed and took out her wand.
"This may hurt a bit." She said as she tapped his hand lightly and a blue light emerged from the tip of it, going into Calvin's hand and disappearing there as if dissolved in his skin. Calvin flinched and tried to move his arm away, but James grabbed his other hand, which Calvin squeezed really hard.
After, Madam Pomfrey went to look for a cast in her cupboard. James let go of Calvin's sweaty hand. They stayed like that in the silence.
"I – I am sorry, James." Calvin strutted, his round face looking down. "It's because of me you lost."
James didn't know what to say. His throat has been dry ever since the match and using his vocal chords sounded like a chore right now. But Calvin looked up, his round blue eyes glazed with tears. James sighed as he sat down beside him in the bed.
"Look Cal," he started. "It's – It's my fault we lost. If I had been more careful about getting detentions and whatnot, we might've had more practice."
"But I am the one who can't play or throw a single Quaffle." Calvin said dejectedly.
James's heart seemed to melt to see Calvin, who was usually a smiling boy, so down. "Here, how about this, you and Diana and I will have extra practice sessions to polish up our skills."
Calvin shook his head. "No, James. I resign."
"You are in no way going to resign!" James said in a warning voice. "Once you are on the team, you stay. I am known for kicking players in their asses until they get their head in the game." He added, smiling. Calvin gave a short chuckle. "And you are no different. Look, I saw you score one day during practice. Remember?"
Calvin nodded his head slowly.
"And many more like that and you are invincible. We just need some more practice." James continued.
Calvin looked into James's eyes, a small smile playing around his lips. "You – You believe in me?"
James placed a hand on Calvin's shoulder and looked straight into his eyes. "Yeah, I believe in you."
A/N: Okay, so i thought this chapter would be a fun one to write...and it was, but i am not sure how i handled it :S What do you guys think? All reviews are whole heartedly welcome! :D