Oh hai there! I got this chapter out quick-eh? Aren't I improving? You betcha! Thank you to my LURVELY reviewers…
xXAMBERXx – thanks for the review! And your guess on Ramadan! I still haven't looked it up, maybe I should…
Kimmmz – thanks so much for the review!
Patie – Thanks for the review! Yea, Snape can be gross, but somehow I still manage to want to hug him…you're right, he needs to stop winking though :)
Hallee, Alice, and Lily were in the common room when a tall, lean boy with amber eyes and chestnut brown hair that curled around his ears and the bottom of his neck entered with a sheet of parchment.
"Ladies, planning on trying out for the quidditch team? We lost quite a few seventh years last year, we need a chaser, a beater, and a seeker."
"Erm…." All three girls said at the same time.
"Alright." He laughed. "But if you change your minds the sign-up sheet's right over here." He said as he tacked a sheet to the Gryffindor board before walking away.
"Who WAS that gorgeous male?" Hallee asked, craning her neck around Alice to get a better look.
"Jake Wood, Chaser, 7th year, captain of the quidditch team. I give him an 8." Alice sighed, watching him go back up the stairs to the boys dormitory.
"8? On a scale of 10? More like a 9.5. You know we should try out for the team. We could spend some time over there with Mister Wood, and get all fit with abs and stuff." Hallee said, looking at the sheet.
"No thank you, I can't fly for my life, you should though, you were good back in first year."
"Thanks Alice, but no way am I trying out for the quidditch team. Does 14 hours a week with Black and Potter sound good to YOU?"
"You have a point there." Lily giggled, "But you should still try out, you need an extracurricular activity."
"You and Alice don't have one."
"Alice and I are passing all of our classes and don't need a fallback."
"Point taken."
-
A cool breeze rippled the grass along the quidditch pitch, causing Hallee to shiver. "Lily." Hallee mumbled.
"What?"
"This is NOT a good idea." Hallee sighed and looked down at the broom she had "borrowed" from the school. (She and Alice had snuck into the sheds the night before).
"What do you mean? You're going to do awesome. You were great at flying in first year, and sure, you don't have GREAT hand-eye coordination, or balance, but trust me, you've got this."
"No I haven't, I'm going to make a complete fool of myself."
"Since when has that stopped you?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow.
Hallee was about to answer when a loud whistle broke up their conversation.
"Alright, I need all people trying out for the positions of Chaser, Beater, and Seeker to please make their way over here so you can sign in? Thank you." Jake Wood put down his whistle and began tending to the mob of students surrounding him.
"A lot of people showed up to try out." Hallee gulped.
"Shut up and try out already." Alice rolled her eyes and pushed Hallee lightly towards the captain.
"I'll Get you Alice Prewett! And your little Lily Evans too!" Hallee screamed in a witch voice before hurrying towards the mass of team-hopefuls.
The first people to try out were the beaters. Jake had Sirius, the other beater on the team, hit a bludger back and forth with them while the rest of the quidditch team flew around the pitch, trying to distract the player. Jake watched and took careful notes of how long each person lasted, how well their shots were, and how promising they seemed.
The beater tryouts seemed to take forever. Mostly because of, of course, the ditzy girls trying to earn one-on-one beater's training with Sirius Black. It was really just ridiculous. And, Hallee had to admit, a little funny. Tall girls in short skirts trying to fly around on a broom, hair blowing in their faces, their frantic screams. It eased Hallee's nerves, to say the least.
"Chasers! Front and center!" Jake called over the teary-eyed girls running from the pitch. Of course Hallee would be next. She was trying out for the position of Chaser. She didn't have enough hand-eye coordination to be a seeker or beater. Besides, chasers had all the fun of the quaffle. Quaffle. Even the word is awesome.
Jake had each potential chaser try to score a goal into the goalposts guarded by the keeper, while the rest of the team just played around on the pitch as if it was a real match. Hallee didn't see many people she knew trying out for a chaser, just a fifth year boy who was friends with Frank, and two sixth year girls. Everyone else (or all other girls) had already either left having just tried out for beater, or were sitting high in the stands blowing kisses to Sirius. Disgisting. Hallee rolled her eyes at the stupid girls.
"King, Hallee! You're up!" Jake barked, looking around. Hallee was beginning to notice that as sweet as Jake was, his passion for quidditch always got in the way, usually making him a little aggressive on the pitch.
"Here." Hallee called and stumbled onto the field.
"Great, so over there's Potter, the keeper." Hallee's stomach dropped as she realized exactly who she would be trying to score against. "And Sirius and Rose will be trying to stop you." Hallee looked onto the pitch, Sirius was glaring at her, and Rose Stage, a pretty fifth year with tanned skin, large ringlets of brown hair to her chin and bright green eyes waved. "You ready to go?" Jake asked.
"Yea." Hallee glared back at Sirius and kicked off the ground, soaring into the air on her broom. She had remembered how wobbly it had been back in first year, and was not surprised that this particular broom always veered slightly towards the left.
Jake blew his whistle and tossed the quaffle into the air. Hallee leaned forwards on her broom, accelerating quickly, and caught it, turning around and heading towards the goal posts. She was about to throw it in when out of nowhere Rose swooped in front of her, trying to grab the quaffle. Hallee jerked upwards and shot towards the goal, throwing it in.
"She made it." Sighed a disgruntled James Potter. Sirius was frowning as well. Not that Hallee was paying attention to him. Of course not. She hated him. Duh.
Jake threw the Quaffle up one more time, then another, and then another. Each time Hallee managed to score, except for the fifth time when Sirius pushed into her, making her drop the quaffle. But it was okay because Jake called a foul on Sirius. Which made Hallee smile. Not that she enjoyed other people's misfortune or anything.
Hallee flew to the ground and dismounted from her broom. She quickly ran up the bleachers to sit with Lily and Alice while they watched the rest of the team try out.
The girls really didn't watch much though. As soon as Hallee sat down she was swept into a giant hug.
"Halls! You were AMAZING!" Alice squealed.
"PLEASE tell me you saw the look on Potter's face when you scored the last shot!" Lily giggled.
"Oh, you mean this one?" Hallee opened her mouth into a perfect 'o' and made her eyes as wide as they could be, then furrowed her brow and hunched her shoulders.
"Exactly." Lily smirked. "You're sure to get on the team. Look, no one but silly girls again." Lily pointed to the pitch where sure enough, another round of girls clad in short skirts were eagerly clutching broomsticks.
"Where are they all coming from?" Alice breathed.
"The bottom pits of hell." Hallee mused. "Hey wait-is that girl even in our house?" All three girls looked over to the pitch where sure enough, Rita Skeeter, with her golden curls and Ravenclaw robes stood at the ready. Hallee, Lily, and Alice laughed as Jake sighed and sent her back to her common room.
Few people were trying out for seeker. It was one of the harder positions on a quidditch team, and had a certain body type required not often found in the busty followers of Sirius Black. To be a seeker you had to be small and thin, therefore more aerodynamic and faster when racing to catch the snitch that almost always guaranteed a win. Hallee saw Dorcas try out, she was pretty good. Jake had her try to catch the snitch under two minutes. He must have done something to it because it was moving slower than usual. Hallee guessed that was too keep this part of the tryouts from going on for days. Back when Sirius and Hallee had been friends, he told her than quidditch matches could go on for weeks if the seeker was having trouble finding the snitch.
Dorcas did great, catching the snitch under a minute. She must have been the fastest one. She obviously made the team. After tryouts Hallee, Lily, and Alice joined up with Dorcas to head back to the dormitories. As they were leaving Jake shouted, "Alright, great job, everyone! Results should be posted in the common room bulletin board tomorrow, 7 am tops!"
"I'm so nervous." Dorcas muttered.
"You did great!" Hallee cheered.
"Yea, you found the snitch the fastest out of anyone." Alice nodded her head.
"Yeah, but would Jake choose me or that 7th year boy? It was his last year, maybe Jake felt bad."
"This is Jake Wood, Dorcas." Hallee laughed. "When it comes to quidditch, he never feels bad."
The girls laughed and continued on their walk until two unwelcome visitors joined their party.
"Lily-Kins! I saw you in the stands! Were you there to cheer me on?" James asked. "I really wished you had tried out. Your long red hair would have looked beautiful streaming behind you in the wind."
"Ew. Go away potter." Lilly glared.
"Play nice Evans." Sirius growled.
"Back off Black." Hallee looked up at the tall figure towering a good 7 inches over her.
"Make me."
"One day I will."
"Oh, I'm scared now King, what are you going to do, shorty, kick my shins?"
Hallee was saved from having to retort by a loud whistle, "Potter! Black! Come clean up this equipment!"Jake shouted. Sirius sneered at Hallee a moment before he turned and followed James back to the pitch.
"Ugh, I HATE Potter. Really he manages to make me want to shave my head the way he talks about my hair."
"Ah, but Lily-Kins! You can't deny that it would look ravishing streaming behind you on a windy day." Hallee said, in her best imitation of James's voice.
"Shut up." Lily shoved Hallee and the four girls raced back to the castle.
-
"THIS IS ILLEGAL! FRAUD! FRAUD I TELL YOU!" Hallee screamed. It was 7:01, the day after the quidditch tryouts. Hallee, Alice, Lily, Dorcas, and Mary were sitting in the common room by the bulletin board. They weren't the only ones there. The 7th year boy who tried out against Dorcas for Seeker, a tall, brunette 6th year girl who always wore her hair in tight braids and sang alto in the school choir (Hallee had shown up for rehearsal once, not her cup of tea) named Carlie who tried out for Chaser, and a group of giggling S.S.S. as Lily, Alice, Hallee, Dorcas, and Mary had taken to calling them (Short Skirted Sluts).
"Chill Hallee, a lot of people tried out, I'm sure he's putting the finishing touches on the list as we speak.
"He better be. He claimed it would be up at 7:00, TOPS! TOPS HE SAID! And look, 7:01-nope, 7:02 now my good sir! And Mr. Wood is yet to grace us with his presence! FRAUD!"
"Deep breaths." Alice sat Hallee down in a chair and raised an eyebrow, daring her to speak or move. Suddenly the door to the boy's dormitories opened and Jake Wood stepped out holding a role of parchment.
One of the S.S.S. looked at the parchment and muttered to her friend, "See that? That's my ticket to Sirius."
Hallee had to cover her mouth to keep from gagging.
Jake made his way slowly to the board. WAAAAY too slowly for Hallee's sake. Finally he was at the board, and noticing he was surrounded by four eager quidditch players, three of their friends, and a large gaggle (heheh, gaggle) Of S.S.S. he quickly tacked the parchment to the board and ran off, not looking back. A wise choice seeing as the S.S.S. quickly descended upon the sheet, pushing everyone else back.
"I don't think it's safe to enter the warzone." Alice sighed, grabbing the back of Hallee's shirt to keep her from entering the fray. "But-I-must see-the-positions!" Hallee struggled.
"Dear lord!" Alice exclaimed and let go of Hallee, causing her to fall onto the soft, carpeted floor of the common room.
"Thank you." Hallee jumped back up and pushed her way through the group of girls to the list. She quickly ran her finger down the positions posted.
The Gryffindor Quidditch Team
Please note that practices are held daily from 3:30PM-5:30PM on the weekdays, and from 8:00AM-11:00AM on the weekends. Practice starts tomorrow,3:30 PM sharp
-
Keeper- James Potter (Of course, Hallee rolled her eyes)
Seeker -Dorcas Meadows ("YES!" Hallee wasn't surprised, with Dorcas's small frame not only was she fast, she even looked speedy with her slick brown hair and high cheekbones. )
Beater- Sirius Black (Well there was no escaping that)
Beater - Bill Kimm (A 4th year with blonde hair that stuck out straight from all directions. He wasn't particularly bright and talked like he had been hit in the head with a bludger one too many times, but it was better than an S.S.S. Hallee sighed.)
Chaser – Hallee King (Hallee resisted celebration until she read the rest of her fellow quidditch teammates)
Chaser – Captain Jake Wood (No DUH)
Chaser - Rose Stage (Obviously)
All choices are final.
"Why did I have to look at the last two names on the list again?" Hallee mumbled to herself as she walked back to her friends. She heard a loud "WHOOP!" And realized that Dorcas must have seen her name.
"Did you make it?" Lily asked.
"Well…" Hallee let her face fall and she stared at the floor.
"DON'T WORRY! There's always next year." Lily immediately jumped in, letting the mother in her take control. "All we need is a little more practice, right? Practice makes perfect?"
"I don't think practice is an issue." Hallee said, fighting back a grin. "Being that I MADE THE TEAM and all."
"YOU MADE IT?!" Alice and Lily asked in unison.
"This calls for a celebration!" Alice declared.
"Not too rowdy." Lily glared at Alice. "And besides, I have a date with Tom at 7."
"Tom?" Both Alice and Hallee raised their eyebrows in unison.
"Wait…where the hell are you going to go? A romantic walk around the castle trying to avoid Peeves? Fun."
"Yes Tom. Tom Koontz. He's in Ravenclaw. And yes Hallee, we may just go for a walk, or we could head up to the Astronomy Tower. Who knows? He is also in my Anicent Runes class. You guys would know him too if you had Taken Ancient Runes rather than that silly Divination business."
"Whatever, Divination's cool though. You get to drink tea and try to see patterns in it." Hallee grinned.
"Yes. And that is your entire grade." Lily said, as if trying to make a point.
"And…"
"Nevermind. Girl's party at 4. I'll bring the chocolate."
-
Lily, Hallee, Alice, Dorcas and Mary all sat in a circle with a large pile of sweets in the center. There was probably at least one of everything from Honeydukes. Right there. In that pile. Waiting. Hallee couldn't take it anymore and reached her hand out for a sugar quill, but Lily slapped her hand back.
"No, Hallee. You know the rules. Absolutely NO eating of the sugary goodness until the reason of the Girl's Party is addressed and the activities for the night are planned.
"Aw Lils! But those are just stupid Rules we made up last year when you and Veele broke up." Hallee pouted at the sugar quill just a few inches away.
No-name hooted from his perch.
"You see? No-name wants some Bertie Bott's!"
"Well no-name is not a girl, so he cannot be included, besides, it'll be over faster if you just let me get on with it." Sighed Lily, rolling her eyes.
"Hurry it up then."
Lily stood up. "Alright. The reason for the Girl's Party here today is that we have two lucky Gryffindor girls in our year who are a part of our magnificent quidditch team-"
"-She says 'magnificent' because Potter's on the team." Hallee whispered to Dorcas and Mary. Hallee's head was quickly attacked by a shoe. Conveniently attached to Lily's hand.
"Anyway, before I was so RUDELY interrupted. This party is for them. Our activities today include nail-painting, hair-dressing, gorging ourselves on these lovely sweets, and talking about and therefore releasing the stress in our lives. Let the Girl's Party commence." With a dramatic bow lily sat back down and waved back the applause from the other girls.
-
An hour later Hallee was happily sucking away at her sugar quill and secretly slipping No-name Bertie Bott's every flavored beans while Alice combed her hair.
"Why do you always wear your hair up?" Alice whined. "When you sleep with it like this, it gets knotted."
"I brush my hair every morning, thank you." Hallee said, examining her still-drying nails, painted glow-in-the-dark green. "You know this is a really gross color in the light, but when it's dark out, it's BEAST!"
"And that is why I chose this lovely blue color." Alice wiggled her light-blue painted fingernails in front of Hallee before resuming her steady brush strokes.
"Ahhhh." Lily sighed, snacking from her own box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, not No-name's, he would not have allowed that. "This is a great day. I get to have my hair and nails done, and I get a date with that yummy Ravenclaw."
"Who?" Mary asked excitedly.
"Lily Evans. Did you just use the adjective 'yummy' to describe something that was not meant to be eaten?"
"Who?" Mary begged again.
"Why Alice I believe I just did. You and Hallee are a bad influence on me."
"WHO?" Mary asked, putting down the brush she was using to comb Lily's hair. "You better tell me now, bitches."
"Tom Koontz." Lily sighed. "Smart, hot, and a chaser on the quidditch team."
"Yummy." Alice sighed.
"Exactly. You know, I've been thinking." Lily said, toying with the ends of her hair.
"Hm?" Hallee asked. Alice was in the process of French-braiding her hair, which kept severely distracting Hallee.
"Maybe a new hairstyle wouldn't be so bad after all."
"What do you want? I can do pretty much anything." Alice smiled and snapped a hair-tie to the end of Hallee's braid.
"I want this all off." Lily said, motioning at her hair.
"Erm Lils…you do realize that I will not comply with that request, right?"
"Well not ALL of it. I just want my hair to my chin. You know like Hallee's was first year."
"Why? That has to have been the worst haircut of my life." Hallee shivered at the memory of the haircut where one-half was always flipping inwards and the other was always flipping out.
"It was cute. And I like it. And maybe it will finally get Potter off my back."
"You're positively SURE? But your hair is so pretty!" Mary whined.
"No, no I see it." Alice nodded. "It'll be different, but it'll look nice, and cute."
"Thank god." Lily said, "Now get cutting."
"Yes mam! Alice grabbed a towel and played it behind Lily, "To catch the good 16 inches of hair I am about to chop off." Alice explained to the questioning girls. Then she slowly started snipping away and Hallee moved over to start brushing Dorcas's hair, while Dorcas did Mary's, therefore forming some kind of awesome chain made of people. Suddenly Dorcas stood up. "OH! Mary! My god! We totally forgot about the potions essay! Holy crap!"
No-name hooted indignantly as both girls grabbed their bags. "Sorry girls, No-name, but it's Sunday and Dorcas and I STILL haven't finished our essay. Ugh sometimes I HATE Slughorn. 3 pages on the use of gillyweed?" Mary and Dorcas quickly ran out of the room with their bags, looking for people who had already finished the essay. They could have asked Hallee, Lily, or Alice, but Hallee and Alice had copied off Lily, and Lily wouldn't let anyone else copy.
"Alright, all done." Alice smiled and removed the towel, then ran a brush through Lily's hair.
"Looks nice Lils." Hallee commented. It did look nice. Lily's hair reached her chin and had soft waves throughout. It wasn't perfectly shaped, but kind of piecey and edgy. Lily walked to the mirror.
"Well I'll miss my old hair but if this is what it takes to get Potter off my back then so be it. Besides it looks pretty good. You think Tom will like it?"
"Who WOULDN'T like it…aside from Potter that is." Alice quickly added. "I'm going to go clean up this mess, be right back." And Alice headed to the bathroom with the scissors, comb, and towel.
"Hey Lils?" Hallee asked, as Lily took a seat back at the circle.
"Yea?"
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Well…you have at least three boyfriends a year, and whenever you don't have one all the boys are still fawning over you. And, when I had that haircut I looked ridiculous, and then you just pulled it off like that." Hallee snapped her fingers to emphasize the point.
"Hallee when you had this haircut you were adorable, and besides, it doesn't matter how many boyfriends I've had. How many dates I've gone on. In fact, you have it easy because you haven't gone through as many breakups. All that my dates have proved is that I haven't found the right guy yet."
"Meh. Whatever you say. I just want to get these stupid braces off and start raking in the men."
Lily laughed, "Hallee, your braces are what makes you different. Don't you always give me speeches on self expression and all that?"
"Yea, but I can express myself and still be snogging a boy on the weekends, nothing wrong with that."
-
It was 7:00 and Lily looked like she was about to puke. "What if he hates my hair? What did I do? ALICE WHY DID YOU LET ME THINK CUTTING MY HAIR WAS A GOOD IDEA? I PROBABLY LOOK HIDEOUS AND YOU ARE ALL TOO NICE TO SAY SOMETHING!"
"LILY! Calm down. Chill. You're scaring No-Name. You look awesome." Hallee sighed. Lily had on a white v-neck T and a brown pinstripe vest that was undone, along with dark skinny jeans and brown leather sandals. Alice had done her makeup, so of course that was flawless. She had put some extra gel into her hair to make it look really piecey as well.
"Alright." Lily took a deep breath. He's meeting me outside the portrait hole. I don't want to keep him waiting." Lily stepped out of the dorms and into the common room. Alice and Hallee watched her leave until they saw her greet a tall, tan boy with blonde hair that fell into his eyes. That must be him. They shut the door.
"As much as I want to stay up and ask Lily how her date went." Hallee yawned. "I'd much rather stuff myself with candy and then pass out."
"Agree." Alice sighed and grabbed as much candy as she could before hopping back onto her bed.
Well there you are! How were your holidays my little Sirius Black lovers? Why don't you tell me in a…REVIEW! You can talk about my story too, it's all good, but you don't have to, you could talk about what you had for lunch, or where you went last week, or how you got a new haircut and can't stand it! Anyway, the point of that was to get you to REVIEW! So hop to it sweeities!