CHAPTER TEN: The 158th Annual Puddlemere v. Montrose Christmas Charity Match
6:15 pm. Day One Hundred and Twelve with Evans. Current objective: Where. Are. His. Quidditch. Robes?
She'd hidden them, she must have. It was the only logical explanation as to why he couldn't find them. This was payback for everything that he'd done – mocking her complete lack of aiming ability, stealing her chocolate-coated hazelnuts, going out with Sirius last Saturday night and coming home roaring drunk. But this, this was a truly evil act. Hiding his robes the night of the 158th Annual Puddlemere v. Montrose Christmas Charity Quidditch Match was just pure evil. And he wouldn't put it past her to do something like that.
James slammed the wardrobe door shut, finally admitting that his robes weren't in there. He glanced at his bedside alarm clock; he was meant to meet Lily in ten minutes. He wouldn't be able to play without his Puddlemere robes, and without their best Chaser, Puddlemere was sure to lose this match. They weren't going to let Montrose have the bragging rights for another year. Not after the horror of last year. They weren't going to suffer another humiliating defeat, not now that they'd taken out the League Cup. James groaned and kicked the wardrobe in frustration. What was he going to do if he couldn't find them? Borrow Sirius'? No, he was much skinnier than Sirius, they'd flap around him like wings and he didn't need the press calling him by a nickname now. He could see the headline now; Britain's Newest Magical Creature: the Potterbird. Lily would have a fit.
The 158th Annual Puddlemere v. Montrose Christmas Charity Match would be their first public outing since their nomination for Witch Weekly's Worst Couple of the Year award – an award which Sirius prided himself on receiving for the last three consecutive years, with three different girls (and James knew that he had no plans of letting him live it down either). Lily however, hadn't taken too kindly to the nomination; James' shoulder was still healing from where she'd hit him with an empty coffee mug upon seeing the article. He winced at the memory.
This charity match had been tradition for Puddlemere, Montrose and Quidditch fans alike for more than a century; known as one of the sport's most brutal friendly games. It was the press event of the year, every media outlet from Witch Weekly to Quidditch Today to The Quibbler would have a journalist or three in place. Notable players of the night were known to be offered lucrative sponsorships and deals with large companies, which was perhaps the most important part of the night, in Lily's eyes at least. She had decided that tonight was time for the two of them to shine; she was putting it upon herself to make sure that James had a sponsor by the end of the night and that their reputation as a celebrity couple was salvaged. But of course, the night really wasn't about him or Puddlemere United, it was about the charity (at least, that was the line that Lily had drilled into him for the past week). All proceeds went to the St. Mungo's Hospital Fund for Victims of Creature-Induced Injuries and Spell Damage, the people who really needed the help and enjoyment of the match. The game was all for their benefit…bragging rights for the winning Quidditch team was just a bonus.
Two minutes left. Merlin knew what Lily would do to him if they were late, and James didn't intend on finding out. He balled his hair up in his fists as he desperately scoped the bedroom again, searching for the familiar navy and gold. And then at last, he spotted them, poking out from under his bed. He didn't question how they got there; he just grabbed them and stuffed them into the bag, not even bothering with folding them as Lily would have wanted him to. James checked himself once over in the mirror and messed up his hair a little more.
Sure that his new emerald green dress robes would be a hit for Lily and the media alike, James grinned at himself and disappeared from the bedroom with a loud crack.
6:35 pm. Day One Hundred and Twelve of official employment. Current mood: stunned. Utterly stunned.
Lily had never seen Puddlemere Stadium so busy. The main entrance and entire northern side had been decorated from the top to the bottom with Puddlemere and Montrose posters, several hundred images of the same fourteen Quidditch players in their respective colours smiled and waved down at the crowd congregating in front of the doors. At the base of the stadium, thousands of witches and wizards donned in their best dress robes stood behind large metal barriers on either side of a purple sparkly carpet. Some had their hands outstretched over the barriers; they were yelling, screaming and holding posters and photographs over the barrier in hope of an autograph. Others were trying to get photos with their preferred player. Some just looked happy to have gotten tickets to this obviously prestigious event, wearing oversized grins and taking in every detail of the night.
Roughly sixty media personalities were running up and down the purple carpet, all wearing their press passes with excessive pride, armed with their Quick Quotes Quills and enchanted flying notepads, speaking practically in whispers to their interviewees so they could get an exclusive statement. In the middle of the carpet, there were women clinging onto their Quidditch player boyfriends and husbands, dressed in ghastly clothing that Lily assumed to be high-fashion – they appeared to have attempted to mix Muggle fashion with wizard dress robes which resulted in what looked like a glittery clown suit. Then there were the Quidditch players, holding onto their broomsticks as if they were children, clearly enjoying the attention they were getting. Lily was utterly stunned. She had expected nothing like this to happen at a supposedly friendly charity match. This seemed more like the Muggle Academy Awards.
Lily clutched James' arm a little tighter. She felt her senses of sight and hearing slip away – the flashes from every angle and the screams from the fans were truly debilitating. How on earth did people survive events like this? Before they could take three steps down the carpet, two witches who wore matching baby pink dress robes swooped in on them. The Rumours! logo on their press passes glowed the same colour as their robes. Lily started wondering if this were deliberate as the two immediately started bombarding them with questions.
"How do you feel about this Witch Weekly Worst Couple nomination, Lily? Proud? Aghast?" The shorter of the two questioned, flipping her chocolate-coloured hair over her shoulder, "Surely you expected something like thisto happen when you started dating James Potter!" The witch's Quick Quotes Quill hovered right above her shoulder, ready to scribble down her reply. Lily felt her mouth go dry. What was she doing? What was her problem? She'd prepared for this, and yet, no answer came to her. James laughed and pulled Lily closer to his side.
"Lily was certainly surprised about it." He said, smiling a little too much to be natural, "Me? I just hope I can end Sirius' reign of terror." The two witches giggled, their quills scribbling down his hilarious line. The taller of the two, who also wore a pink feather in her hair, rolled out a piece of parchment, undoubtedly filled with questions.
"How do you feel about tonight, James? Do you believe that winning the League Cup has inspired some confidence in Puddlemere? Especially after that humiliating defeat from last year, what was it? 305 to 40?" James again smiled, but it was nowhere near as friendly. Lily had only heard stories of Puddlemere's greatest loss during the 157th Annual Puddlemere v. Montrose Christmas Charity Match. On top of what happened in last years' Quidditch season, it seemed that it hadn't been their year at all.
"The Puddlemere United team is always confident …." James glanced at her press pass, "Bianca. Montrose won't know what hit 'em by the end of the night." Bianca's Quick Quotes Quill obediently scratched down his reply, but she obviously had wanted a more controversial statement. She stepped closer to James, so that she was face to face with him. Lily eyed her, unimpressed. Bianca spoke softly; she clearly didn't want Lily to hear what she was saying. Most of her words got swallowed up in the deafening cheers of the crowd nearby; the captain of the Montrose Magpies, Philippe Baxter, had arrived.
"How do you feel…she's done…title…this time last year…sources say….messy…something you wish to say?" James locked eyes with Lily for a moment before answering. She turned away, feeling her cheeks burn. Who did this woman think she was, whispering to James right in front of his girlfriend? She was probably trying to get a photo of them together, James looking like a filthy rotten cheater. Oh no, Lily wasn't going to have that. She'd worked too hard for that to happen.
"Excuse-"
"What about you, Lily?" The other witch cut across her, startling her. "This time last year, I believe you were still at Hogwarts. Quite a first job, isn't it? Working for a Quidditch player like him." The shorter witch had also stepped closer; she was almost on Lily's toes. Something wasn't right with this, these Rumours! journalists wanted something. Lily didn't have to wait long to find out what, "Your little escape from Azkaban has been the topic of the year! But nobody understands why you Disapparated in front of that Muggle. So why don't you straighten this out for all of us, hmm? Why did you feel the need to?" Lily felt James' grip on her arm tighten. Before she had a chance to answer the question, he had pulled Lily down the purple carpet and into the change-rooms, where the press could not enter. Lily didn't protest.
The Puddlemere United change-rooms where completely deserted. Lily watched James unceremoniously dump his bag on the bench. She said nothing.
"Sorry about that. I'd forgotten how rude those Rumours! girls were." James was clearly fighting to keep his voice level. His toothy grin didn't fool her. Something that Bianca from Rumours! had said had angered him. But he wasn't going to admit that. Lily studied him as he continued to avoid her gaze and pulled out his wrinkled Puddlemere robes (what in Merlin's name did he do to them?) and laid them carefully across his bag. He certainly wasn't as enthusiastic about this match as he had been ten minutes ago.
"What did that Bianca ask you?" She knew it was no use, but she had to try. James shrugged as if it were no big deal. Both he and Lily knew better.
"She was asking if I thought hiring you was a good idea. After Alison and that Paris thing." James finally turned and faced her. The irritated expression he wore completely ruined how handsome he looked in his new dress robes.
"And what did you say?" she asked. In response, James strode towards her and wrapped her up in his arms. Lily smiled into his chest and returned the hug.
"I wouldn't want anyone else." The strange, annoyed feeling that she had just been lied to was sent to the back of Lily's mind. She instead chose to enjoy being wrapped up in the warmth of his embrace, in the silence of the deserted change-room. They remained entwined together for a long time, until the door loudly burst open and the rest of the Puddlemere team entered the change-room. James had clearly brought his girlfriends in before, because not one of the other Puddlemere players were fazed by their rude breaking up of a moment. Lily recognised Sirius' voice yelling over the chaos that was the rest of the team.
"You don't have time for a quickie, James. We're meant to be in the air in ten. Coach'll chuck a fit if we're missing a Chaser! I hear he's got good money and a case of Firewhiskey riding on our win."
James and Lily broke apart. They eyed each other for a moment.
"Have a good game." Lily said, as brightly as she possibly could. She turned and left the change-room, fully aware of James' eyes following her out. A loud, macho chant of "Puddlemere" began as soon as she closed the door behind her.
The top box of Puddlemere Stadium seemed a hell of a lot lower from the ground. Lily felt dizzy from the sudden change in air pressure when the lift reached the top floor, her floor, a good hundred stories up. How Quidditch fans dealt with this lack of oxygen every game was beyond her. Perhaps increased exposure to such heights made them immune. Lily used the wall for support as she made her way to the furthest door down the hallway, well aware that the mix of a change in air pressure and the pair of insanely high heels she wore made her appear tipsy. She just hoped that she reached the relative privacy of the box before some other media personality found her like this.
The relative privacy of the top box had no privacy at all, but Lily needn't have worried; it was two minutes before the start of the match and the Puddlemere and Montrose teams had already graced the airspace, providing enough entertainment for everyone else in the box to not see her. Lily wobbled her way to the furthest seat from the plate glass window; in the back row, beside an older wizard who seemed more interested in the photos in the programme than the actual game. Truthfully, Lily would have been happy to enjoy the match in the cheapest seats, which were right at the bottom of the stadium. At least they weren't at some ridiculous altitude and she could enjoy the game without feeling dizzy or nauseous from the height. But no, the girlfriends and wives of the Puddlemere team were granted one of the best boxes of the stadium, and expected to use it. They shouldn't be socializing with the common folk like the fans.
Soon enough, the referee of the match joined the fourteen players in the air. His magically enhanced voice echoed throughout the stadium, and Lily could clearly hear him reminding both teams that there was nothing gained from winning this match and it had no effect whatsoever on their standings during the next Quidditch season. Lily noticed that many in the front row were sniggering at these words. There was a brief pause in the referee's speech as James and the Montrose captain shook hands, and then a deafening cheer from the packed stadium as the Quaffle, Bludgers and Snitch were released.
Thankfully, from her seat at the back, Lily couldn't see what was happening. She didn't mind of course. If she were any closer to the window and that frightening height, she would likely pass out. No, this seat was good for her, in decent range of both the buffet and the bar.
A quarter of an hour in and Montrose had taken the lead by forty points. The attendants of the box had gradually began migrating towards the bar, perhaps what they saw as the only way to get through the night. Lily soon joined them – Merlin knew how long it would be until the Snitch was caught. As she made her way to the bar, she studied the other people of the box. A group of tall, slim, twenty-something-year-old women stood in a large circle on the left hand side of the bar, each with a glass of champagne in one hand. They looked like they were having a ball, perhaps this was the biggest event of their year, Lily mused. Three older men, including the one who had been sitting next to her earlier, were grouped on the opposite side of the bar, having an in-depth discussion over the coming Quidditch season ("Puddlemere will lose its first heat. Last season was just a fluke!"). And at the centre there were two women, both wearing short black dresses instead of robes, leaning against the bar engrossed in their conversation. They were also blocking Lily from the bar. As Lily drew closer, one of the women became more and more familiar.
"Merlin, I thought she was about to have a heart attack, the way she was ranting on! So of course I cut across her - there's no other way to grab that girl's attention, honestly –and then she gives me some lecture about treating people properly when they're able to ruin your life with one article. The nerve of her! I haven't had to deal with someone like that in years. Though, I admit, there was this one reporter I had the displeasure of working with back when I first started with Har-" Lily stopped in her tracks as the woman abruptly ended her conversation, a smile playing upon her purple lips.
"Lily!" Izzy Skeptor said, almost in disbelief, "I was told you'd be here, but I didn't see you. I looked all around and thought that you might have gotten lost, since you're obviously not used to big events like this, but I decided that if I didn't see you after the first hour, I'd have someone from reception page you, but I didn't really want to do that, I mean, how embarrassing would that be? Harvey did that to me once when I first started at Rancorn, I've never forgiven him for it, obviously, but it was an important lesson as a publicist, so I had no reservations over doing to the same to you. Oh, but come here, there's someone I think you should meet."
The young witch who Izzy had been talking to eyed Lily with mild recognition, but Lily recognised her all too well.
She was now face to face with Alison Stern.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter.
I'm really sorry for the long wait! I meant to finish this chapter before exams and that didn't exactly go to plan.
As always, thank you so much for all the positive feedback! It means a lot!
-xSymnia
