Girl Got Game

by Liebesbrief

FIN. Lily was not prepared to go to Hogwarts to live a life of gender bending and cross dressing just in order to be able to play a serious game of Quidditch. But that cute chaser James Potter just might make up for all of it...if he weren't such a jerk.

21. The Championship

"Girl Got Game"
By: Liebling
Updated On: 30 December 2010
Final Comments: Well everyone...it has taken six years to get to where we are today. I can hardly believe I started this the summer before I entered high school and am only now just finishing it. I'm actually a little proud that I never gave up. Thank you for all your support over the years. I hope you enjoy the final instalment.
Chapter Twenty-One
"The Championship"

:-:

"Are you ready?"

No response.

"Are you ready?"

No response.

"Are you ready?"

No response.

"Are you—?"

"Sirius," I snapped, slamming my fork and knife down on the table, "If you ask me that one more time I swear I'll..." I was cut off by James hands attempting to pry the silverware out of my death grip.

"He's just anxious," he said.

"Well, tell him to stop it because he's making me anxious!" I hissed back.

James didn't. He figured that distracting me some more would be better than yelling at his best friend.

Maud groaned, "They're doing it again."

I pulled away from James to flick a piece of bacon at him and stick out my tongue.

Maud responded by tossing a piece of toast at my newly cropped hair in retaliation. I rolled my eyes as it missed my face entirely and got stuck in the hair somewhere by my ear (this is why he wasn't a chaser, I thought with a roll of my eyes). Again, my hair just barely fell below my ears.

Last night, I stared at myself in the mirror while I brushed my fourteen-inch-long-and-then-some hair. Uncle John had given me a spell that quickly grew it out so now I didn't have to temporarily charm it like I had been doing on my Hogsmead trips. Knowing it was so easy to get back, I suddenly didn't mind missing it for a while.

"Hey, Emma?" I said over my shoulder, looking at her reflection in the mirror. She was the only other girl in the room.

"Yes?" she leaned out from inside her four-poster bed with her book.

"Are you any good with scissors?"

A short time later, I left the dormitory to say goodnight to the rest of the team.

"Hey, look!" said Sirius as I descended the girl's staircase, "Li's back!" the team that had been sitting by the fire looked up, "Sorry, mate, but since you went missing we had this lovely bird named Lily take your place. No hard feelings, it's just that she looks better on a broomstick than you do."

"Ha ha ha," I rolled my eyes, but a grin still spread across my face, "It's for old time's sake," I told them, "I'll fix it after the match,"

Besides, my braid kept whipping me in the face when I was flying...

So the team and I (as well as half the school) left breakfast early to either claim the best seats or prep ourselves in the locker room. The door slammed shut behind me but we could hear all of the stands alive with noise, the students positively buzzing with delight. I couldn't blame them; it was Gryffindor verses Slytherin for the Cup for goodness sake.

"Okay," started Sirius right away, "We have sacrificed a lot to be here, folks. Our early mornings to the Quidditch Practice Gods, our Hogsmead trips to weird French men in death matches thanks to Evans..." he gave me A Look.

"Hey!" I objected.

James patted me on the back.

"The Slytherins have been able to push us off all year—but not today! Today, their number is up! Today the fat lady has finally sung! Today is December 2012 for the Slytherin team!"

We cheered awkwardly, a little confused.

"Sirius, if it's December 2012, then it's the end of everyone."

"Quiet, Moony, I'm on a roll and it is very important that I express the level of doom and destruction that is going to be inflicted on this team!"

"Don't get over-confident," Remus warned.

Sirius waved him off, causing his friend to sigh.

"Joe! It's a cloud-free day so we will be able to fly out of the sun without problem. Jordan, I want you Wronski Feinting left and right until their seeker gets dizzy. Maud, nothing gets past those posts. Chasers," he paused and stared at me, James, and Victor, "Well. James, don't fall out of the sky. Victor, don't hesitate on your passing. Lily, you nail every son of a bitch that tries to take that quaffle even if it means you have to flash your boobies at them."

"Hey—!"

"Aye, aye, captain," the rest saluted.

Sirius nodded, "We're going to kill, and we're going to destroy, and we're going to kill again, and then we're going to destroy some more, and then we're going to kill..."

We let him continue on a while. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head against the metal door. I could hear the commotion from the stadium outside. Against my better judgement, I cracked the door open and peeked outside. Banners were dangling off the stands decked out in either reds and golds or greens and silvers. I could see which sections of the fans were supporting who by the colours they were donning. There were still plenty of people attempting to pile into their stands as they passed by the locker rooms. Students, press, photographers...it felt like half of England was trying to see this match. I saw a group of some familiar people weaving towards the professors and commentator's stand as they passed the locker room. I gasped and stuck my head out further.

Charlie spotted me first out of the group and pointed me out to the others. I could barely make her out as I squinted let alone know what she was saying to her father and...

Uncle John!

And, uh, bartender Trixie?

"Go Lily!"

"Roast 'em alive!"

"Bonne chance, beb!"

Stunned, I waved back. Then I saw the line of people who were standing next to them. There was Andromeda Black and her daughter Nymphadora (slash-Anna-slash-Abercrombie-slash-Franklin...) Madame Rosmerta, Ana, Cheryl, and...Danny.

Danielle.

I pulled my head out of the door, "James," I whispered, jealousy creeping into my chest. James leaned over curiously and peered outside. "Danny's here! At Hogwarts!"

"I know," he whispered back, confused at my urgency, "She said she wanted to watch us play,"

"Oh," I whispered once more, "Okay."

Well then. That was that, I guess.

"ARE YOU TWO EVEN LISTENING TO ME?" shouted Sirius.

James and I exchanged sheepish looks just as the whistle blew.

Sirius may have been prepared to chew us out, but it was time.

I could hear the commentator as the team exited the locker room. "It's a great day for a Quidditch match, folks. My name is Nigel Lovegood and I'll be one of your commentators this afternoon."

"And I'm Joanna Channon and I have very little experience with Quidditch," added a more wistful voice honestly. "I think I'm just here because my boyfriend is the real commentator."

"Er, let's have a good match, everyone!"

My ears perked up at the sound of familiar voices, but as both teams exited, we couldn't hear anymore as he was drowned out by the yelling and chaos from the stands.

I couldn't help but look around, dazed, because the stands seemed to be filled more than ever. In fact, some people had taken to standing on the ground as everywhere else was full.

"Oh, hell," said Joe all of the sudden, "Is that Snape?"

I gasped, "What?" My head snapped around to see where Joe had been looking.

Sure enough, dressed in bright emerald robes was Snape, a worn broom at hand. His face was set like stone he marched next to the captain to the middle of the pitch. He refused to look at me.

"Shit," said Sirius, "I thought we messed up his shoulder bad enough last year he wouldn't be able to play."

Oh yeah. How could I have forgotten? How many times has I sat through Quidditch matches with Snape and discussed sensitive topics? Meaning, my habit of lying and how James and Sirius injured his arm last year under questionable circumstances and rendered him unable to play Quidditch...

And now it looked like it was about to come back and bite us in the arse.

I elbowed him hard in the gut, "Sirius! Why would you do that? You do realise that's why he jinxed James' broom during the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game to get back at you!"

Heads snapped in my direction.

"He did what?" cried the team, including James.

The whistle blew.

"Captains! Shake hands!" directed the referee.

I paled. "Er, didn't I tell you that?"

"No!"

"Captains!"

"Uh, let's talk about this later," I suggested, pushing Sirius towards Woodsworth.

"Snape jinxed James' broom and you didn't tell us?" snapped Victor.

"I couldn't," I hissed back, "He knew who I really was at the time!"

Gulping, I took off into the air with everyone else. James pulled on my handle closer to his broom.

"He jinxed my broom?" he asked lowly, leaning closer.

"Uh..."

This did not bode well for the relationship.

"Chasers ready? Keepers ready? Beaters ready? Seekers ready?" After a various amount of nodding, the first referee made a move to throw the quaffle.

I locked eyes with Snape and his black eyes practically burnt right through me. I could barely hear the whistle blow and I flew off through the air a good three seconds after everyone else.

"EVANS."

"Sorry!" I apologised, catching up.

"And the toss up goes to Slytherin! Caught by Snyder and he's making his way down the pitch, passes to Snape who dodges that bludger—OUCH!—but not Potter!"

"Neither of them are very happy looking..."

"Right you are, Jo! Potter and Snape are looking like a couple of sour apples!"

I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see Snape spinning out of control and I assumed that he had just been slammed into by James. Guess he wasn't too pleased with the new information I had just shed light on...

"And if the ref's not gonna call a foul on that, I won't complain..."

Surprisingly, the referee didn't call on him. I dodged one of the players and made myself open to receive a pass from James and immediately spotted Victor about forty feet ahead. Wordlessly, and all in one movement, I ducked under one of the chaser and threw the quaffle with all my might. Victor had to shoot after the ball in order to catch it before he was able to send in sailing through the left hoop.

"Ten points to Gryffindor!"

"Really?" said Jo, surprised, "Is that how much a goal is worth? Ten whole points? I could have sworn it was only two..."

"Great job, Victor!" I cheered. He shot me a thumbs-up.

"Um...anyway, excellent goal by Bishop! And now that the ball's rolling...or flying in any event," he chuckled, "Representing the House of Slytherin, we've got Meyers, Snyder, Nott, Velde, Rennison, Snape, and current captain Woodsworth!"

While he introduced them, the three of us attempted to reclaim the quaffle.

"Representing Gryffindor," a deliberate pause to allow cheering, "We have Daniels, Brooks, McClain, Bishop, Potter, the lovely Miss Evans," another pause for catcalling and wolf whistling, "And captain—ooooh, a bludger right in the gut for Snape delivered by the Gryffindor captain Black!"

So Sirius was a little pissed as well then.

"Wait was that the snitch?"

My stomach clenched. The snitch? Already?

"Haha, just kidding with you, folks,"

The crowd booed.

Nigel huffed, "Alright, alright, learn to take a joke, people. Sheesh."

Uugh...I thought I was about to be sick all over the pitch.

"Lily, catch!" Victor threw the quaffle at me and I barely caught it by the tip of my fingers.

"DUCK!" someone else cried.

Shrieking slightly, I flattened myself against the handle, curling my body over the quaffle as a bludger passed through the air where my head had just been.

"Close call there for Gryffindor's newest chaser,"

I was hurtling down the pitch, players blurring all around me. The green was an unfamiliar colour to me on the pitch and it made me think of a twisted Christmas as I saw the emerald Slytherins flying next to the gold and scarlet Gryffindor robes. I flew diagonally across the pitch just as Victor was flying under me and James a little forward and above.

"I'm open!" he shouted.

I threw him the ball as hard as I could.

"And Snape comes out of nowhere on that play and intercepts the quaffle!"

Crap. I slid to a halt in midair and spun around to follow...and was painfully slammed twenty feet to the side by a passing Slytherin chaser—Snyder?—and nearly ended up in the stands. I straightened myself as quickly as I could, feeling nonplussed. I was used to a bit of elbow shoving and maybe an accidental collision...but not being tossed around like a friggin' rag doll.

Snape passed it forward to Nott who launched it to Snyder who scraped the inside of the left goal post with the quaffle.

Slytherin had their first ten points of the game, uncomfortably quickly after we had just scored.

As discouraged as we were by this, the Gryffindor team doubled our efforts. On a very elaborate play, Jordan provided a distraction for the Slytherin beaters—Velde and Rennision—by feinting, Sirius and Joe wove through all the players to knock Nott and Snyder out of the way, Victor blocked Snape, and James and I did I toss off until we got in the scoring zone and he catapulted the quaffle right through the middle.

I barely had time to cheer before I felt a bludger trim the back of my broom. Time to move.

Ten more minutes into the game, Slytherin scored twice more; one goal by Nott, the other by Snape. I was uncomfortable with how adept of a flyer Snape actually was. Even though I knew he had played Quidditch before, for some reason I could never picture him as the sporty type. He had pointedly been refusing my stare which was just fine because I was focusing on the whereabouts of the quaffle. If he wanted to hate me, that was his problem, not mine.

Hmmph.

...Although, I really do hate it when people hate me.

I was able to put this out of my mind however when Snyder purposely knocked into me and Snape shot past and scored a goal. We weren't friends anymore, I had to remind myself. (And it was about eighty-five percent not my fault).

James made a superb steal right from under Snape's nose and he lobbed it forward with a powerful throw to Victor. Woodsworth was practically a quarter ways down the pitch, way out of the keeper zone. Victor had a clear shot...all except for that incoming bludger that one of their beaters wacked in his direction and zipped right past my elbow.

It was a sort of mind-out-of-body experience I had when I streaked after the bludger to intercept it (with no bat, mind you) so that Victor could score. The bludger felt like cold hard led, only slightly bigger than the leather quaffle. It was such a strange occurrence to be grappling with another ball on the pitch other than the red ball.

I heard the stands cheer loudly, signalling that Victor had scored, but I was still literally, holding the bludger with both my arms tightly wrapped around it like it was a squirming and lurching child I was afraid of dropping.

"Interesting move employed by Evans there," commented Nigel.

"Do you think she's forgotten that she's a chaser and not a beater?" Jo asked curiously.

"Evans!" I heard Joe shout, "Evans, let go!" He raised his bat, ready.

And have the bludger go after me at a close range? I shook my head furiously, "Uh-uh!"

"Evans!"

"No!"

"Do it!"

"No!"

"Trust me!"

I made a pained noise and quickly let go of the bludger and ducked and covered.

I heard a giant CRACK and a heavy whizzing noise. I looked up, and the bludger was now zooming in the distance towards another player. I kinda sorta really hated the Slytherin beaters, I decided soon after when my ribs were still aching after having held on so tightly to that stupid bludger.

"All right, Lily?" he shouted.

"Thanks, Joe!" I yelled in a rush before shooting off. Next time I would just let the damn thing hit me.

"JOE!" bellowed Sirius frantically above all the noise. I looked over to our captain and immediately saw why.

The Slytherin beaters were prowling underneath Maud like green sharks at the end of the pitch, completely unnoticed by our keeper.

"Get down there!" he ordered as he went chasing after a passing bludger with a raised bat. Once he hit it towards Nott, I followed behind it so that I would be able to catch the quaffle once it dropped. I looked over my shoulder nervously, never liking not knowing where both bludgers were at a time. One was right in front of me shooting towards Nott but where was the other—?

I heard it before I could see it. But instead of the all too familiar dull thudding sound of a bludger hitting a body, it was a thud followed by a clanging sound. I didn't turn fast enough to see him actually get hit by the bludger but I still gasped and cried out as I saw his head collide with the hoop and watched some of the blood smear against the goal post and some fall a hundred feet to the ground. He was pitched forward, sliding off his broom and barely got his hand attached around the golden hoop.

"Maud!"

I could hear the stands rise in uproar, boys yelling and girls screaming foul or shouting for a medical time out.

He dangled from the left hoop as the quaffle sailed through right above his head. He tried desperately to get his leg up without slipping and was quickly clutching it with all of his limbs. Joe valiantly went off to chase after his broom while Victor took a hard bludger as he tried to grab the quaffle. Neither James nor I had any chance to get to the ball in time as it fell towards the earth and into the hands of Nott and right through the centre hoop. Another bludger—hit by Rennison—was going back towards Maud and Sirius hastily flew to intercept is as the quaffle went right over both their heads and back through the post.

With Maud out of the way, Slytherin had scored three times in the span of about ten seconds before Sirius was able to hastily call a time out.

Victor, who had regained control after being slammed by the bludger, wobbly descended and James helped Maud down from the goal posts. I was scared when I noticed that our keeper was startlingly still as they slowly came down. Miss Pompfrey was already halfway across the field and Joe was landing with Maud's broom in hand, right next to her.

James and Maud slowly touched the ground and Pompfrey was starting to direct team to step away from him "for just a moment so I can make sure he hasn't got any brains spilling out of his ears, dammit!"

The team grumbled and reluctantly took two tiny steps back. The commentator was going on in the background, announcing the score—thirty to ninety, Slytherin—and talking about latest broom models to distract the crowd as we stared at our keeper sitting on the grass with his eyes closed looking like he might fall over if the wind blew too hard.

"I'm taking him to the medical tent," announced Pompfrey, conjuring a stretcher and helping Maud onto it and keeping a hand on his chest, forcing him to lay back.

The team roared in outrage.

"We need a keeper!" Joe yelled at her, "We don't have a reserve! We don't have any reserves!"

"He's fine!" Sirius added desperately, "Aren't you, Maud?"

Maud nodded.

"Yeah..." He sat up, went cross-eyed, and proceeded to fall off the stretcher. The team rushed to set him back upright.

"I'll try and fix him up as fast as I can," said Pompfrey, already starting to direct the stretcher off the pitch.

"But we need a keeper!" Joe swore viciously.

"Hey, it's not his fault," defended Victor.

The team dissolved into bickering and squabbling, making my head hurt. What were we going to do? I thought despairingly.

"Guys, can we please stop arguing?" Jordan begged. "The sooner Maud gets better, the sooner he can play again," he reasoned.

"But what the hell are we going to do without a keeper?" I demanded out loud, furious at the circumstances. Their beaters were already killing us, I added to myself.

"Hope that she can heal him fast," said James with grim undertones.

My heart dropped and judging by the looks of the rest of the team, they were feeling the same way.

That was the turning point of the match. It all went downhill from there. Victor said he could try staying back in the keeper zone as he had the most experience in that position next to Maud. But after Slytherin scored four goals, and James and I none, we decided that we were better off with attempt to double our efforts as chasers.

Within an hour, it was 230 to 80 in favour of Slytherin. I had scored one goal, and Victor and James two apiece. Our last goal was nearly half an hour ago. We were drenched with sweat, waiting anxiously as there continued to be no sign of Maud. Head injuries were tricky, but at the same time I wondered if Pompfrey had been bribed by the Slytherin team to detain him longer than absolutely necessary.

"My god, either Gryffindor better score soon or somebody put me out of my misery," the commentator had moaned and much to my horror, a large amount of the crowd cheered in agreement. "OUCH! Jo!"

"Don't worry, Lily," said Jo in a dreamy voice, probably overtaking the megaphone, "I elbowed him for you. Speaking of which, why don't you elbow one of the Slytherin chasers?"

"Oh hell, this is gonna bruise," grumbled Nigel, "And for those who don't know, elbowing is illegal and results in a penalty shot which Gryffindor can't afford right—EVANS, THEY'RE CORNERING YOU!"

What the—?

A split second later I understood what Nigel meant as one bludger nailed me in front of my left shoulder at the same time the second one slammed into my shoulder blade. I thought for a split second that my arm was about to fall off. I then came to a startling realisation as I watched the beaters fly off after the quaffle fell out of my tight hold and was stolen by Snyder.

"I can't move my arm!" I yelled, horrified, using my right arm to shake it.

James spun one-hundred eighty degrees and grabbed Sirius' robes and said something I couldn't hear. They both looked up at me.

"Time!" Sirius called.

"Christ, Lily, I tried to warn you! Uh, in a totally unbiased way of course."

"Gryffindor captain Sirius has called another time out on the side of the pitch completely opposite of Miss Pompfrey. Perhaps he did this on purpose?"

"Lily, are you all right?" James shouted, flying quickly over to me as we began to land.

I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out in pain. Slowly, the feeling started coming back into my arm. I tentatively tried making a fist and bending my arm at my elbow. James was by my side the second my feet touched the ground, yanking the neck of my robe to reveal my shoulder. I undid the top to buttons so the team could inspect it better.

"How bad does it look?" I asked, trying not to look at it as he ran the pads of his fingertips over the spot. I took deep breaths and tried to convince myself that it was only a mild stinging sensation and not a painful heart-pulsing throb that numbed my arm. I could have sworn the bones in my arm were still vibrating. The rest of the team was quick to surround me. I could hear Sirius chanting: "Oh please don't be too banged up, oh please don't be too banged up; not another player, not another player, please not another player..."

"It's swelling," he said.

"Already?" I repeated, finally looking at my shoulder and cringing. I studied the angry red skin in a perfectly round protrusion with budding dark purple and blue swelling beneath the surface. I looked on the other side, only to see the exact same pattern.

"Hey, it's actually turning a pretty colour..." said Jordan, squinting at the bruise.

"Oh good," I gritted, "Now it can complement my eyes," I batted my lashes at him.

"Does anything feel broken?" Victor asked.

"I didn't hear anything snap," I said, unhelpfully.

"Can you move it?" James asked me, serious.

I rolled my shoulder a few times, sucking in a breath.

"Yeah...I'll make it."

"Good," said Sirius before turning to his fellow beater, "Joe, I'm making it your personal job to nail Snivellus with every bludger you can, and I'm personally going after Velde and Rennison."

"What's Snape's problem anyway?" I muttered to myself, scowling.

"Well I suspect it's because he liked you," Remus said quietly so the rest of the team wouldn't hear.

Where the hell had he appeared from?

I gaped at him stupidly.

"Er, I gather that you didn't realise this?"

"No!" I cried.

"Well...considering that you always sat with him for the other matches, he might have viewed those as dates—"

"But—I—that's not..." I floundered. Where the hell was my alleged boyfriend to back me up on this? I thought desperately.

"Well he shouldn't be in such a strop about it! I certainly never thought of those as dates. He was always talking about blackmailing me! And look how he's acting now!" I pointed out towards the pitch, stamping my foot childishly.

"He's probably bitter that his feelings weren't returned...and that you started seeing James," he paused, "Speaking of which, I wouldn't recommend mentioning this to him, in any case..."

I scoffed before hissing, "I'm pretty sure he's over me. In case you missed it, he didn't really seem to care that his friends almost popped my shoulder out!"

"Yeah, I could see that all the way from the tent," said a new voice to the group. The team spun on their heels.

"MAUD!" we all cried.

"Thank. God." Sirius said, relieved. He had no hesitation in wrapping his arms around our keeper's shoulders tightly.

Maud went a little red and scratched his neck, embarrassed. "I had to sneak out while Pompfrey was distracted."

"You sure you're all right?" I asked, concerned, as Joe peeled Sirius off of Maud.

He nodded, though his gaze didn't exactly meet mine, "Yeah..."

"Eyes up here, buster," I teased.

"Sorry...I just keep seeing four of them." He blinked furiously again.

James and I exchanged alarmed glances and we (as well as the rest of the team) couldn't help but glance down to double check. I adjusted my robe self-consciously.

"You're sure you're all right, Maud?" asked Victor, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Uh...yeah, I think so." He shook his head furiously and blinked a couple of times.

"Pompfrey's coming," Joe said suddenly.

"She'll stop Maud from playing!" cried Jordan.

"Up in the air, everyone!" shouted Sirius, waving for us to all quickly hop back on our brooms and take to the air with renewed vigour.

"Oh and it looks like the Gryffindor keeper has returned to the pitch," said Jo wistfully, drowning out Pompfrey's unhappy reprimanding.

James got the quaffle quickly and dove down to avoid a chaser before passing it forward to Victor who crossed in front of him. Victor very nearly handed it to me next to the scoring zone, making it my turn to go for a goal. I sucked in a big breath and made the loudest noise possible, ("!") and got to see the look of confused fear on the keeper's face as I charged at him with the quaffle raised like the true lunatic that I really was. I threw the ball and didn't even have to watch it to know that it went through.

230 to 90.

Finally, at long last, there was triumphant cheering from the Gryffindors. If we could just get the snitch and end the match as quickly as possible, I wouldn't mind having only scored the fewest goals the whole game. I was spinning back around, pumping my fist in the air, when I accidentally elbowed the keeper in the face.

"Foul!" cried the referee, blowing the whistle.

Argh, bugger.

"He flew into my elbow!" I defended, pointing at the spitting angry keeper and captain of the Slytherin team, holding his eye.

The referee pulled the whistle out of his mouth, shook his head and said, "It's a foul. Sorry, love."

"Well take you sorry and shove—!" Victor yanked me by the back of my robes and pulled me towards the rest of the team migrating towards the other end of the pitch.

"The last thing we need right now is a technical foul too," he said, knocking my head lightly with his knuckles. I scowled and looked over my shoulder. Woodsworth, rubbing his face, said something to Snape and gestured sharply to the Gryffindor goal posts.

My displeasure deepened. I was actually embarrassed that I had accidentally fouled someone. And he wasn't even bleeding. I voiced this to James as we flew down together for the penalty shot to be taken and he doubled over in laughter.

The players lined up along the keeper zone to watch the shot. All attention was focused on Snape, Maud, and the goal posts. I could hear Jordan, somewhere up in the atmosphere, screaming or cheering from above. His voice was getting steadily closer and closer as he came down to support Maud. Snape tucked the quaffle nearly under his arm and made a beeline for the right post.

I was gripping my broom so hard that it nearly shot forward on its own. James was tugging at the roots of his hair with both hands and Sirius was watching through his fingers. Joe was slapping his bat against his broom to sound distracting, Victor was encouraging the crowd to make as much noise as possible and Jordan was rapidly descending from the atmosphere, shouting loudly. As Snape neared the goalpost and neared Maud, he sloped downwards, slowly crossing all three posts. He then shot straight up, narrowly missing our slightly disoriented keeper, and threw the quaffle over his head with both hands.

The quaffle sailed into the middle hoop and Maud was still spinning. Even I could acknowledge that it was a beautiful move, as much as I resented him then.

"Stop! Stop!" Jordan was yelling, waving widely, "I've got it! I've got the snitch!"

"Jordan got the snitch!" Joe shouted.

"MCCLAIN'S GOT THE SNITCH?"

"It's over!"

"We've won!"

The referee fumbled for his whistle and hastily blew. There was an eruption of noise from the stands, but I couldn't tell what kind.

Had we...won?

Panting, Jordan nearly flew his broom into Joe as he rushed to join us.

"I-caught-the-snitch-before-Snape-took-the-shot!" he said in one big rush.

"What?" No one had understood him.

Jordan swallowed and took a deep breath, "I caught—I caught the snitch before Snape made the goal—we've won!"

"WE WON!" The team started shouting, but I held in my cheering as I watched the second referee flew over to the one who had blown the whistle and felt my heart sink. They exchanged a few short sentences before they directed their brooms to the commentator's box where Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, and the other professors were seated. The stands went quiet.

"It's a TIE?" cried Nigel in outrage.

The pitch exploded in sound.

"My sentiments exactly," he grumbled in response to the shouts of disapproval from the crowd.

"Perhaps they should toss a coin for the Cup?" suggested Jo.

"But Jordan caught the snitch before Snape made the goal!" I screamed, furious. I was half tempted to whip out my wand and amplify my voice to let the whole stadium know how I felt.

"No one witnessed the catch but the two seekers and the Slytherin seeker is saying that the goal was made before he caught it."

"Of course Meyers is going to say that!" I shrieked. "He wants to win!"

"Well as of right now, it's a tie."

"BUT JORDAN CAUGHT THE SNITCH FIRST!" Some vessel was about to burst, I just knew it.

"Lily, your face is getting really red..."

"I KNOW IT IS, THANK YOU MAUD. NOW GO SIT DOWN PLEASE BEFORE YOU FALL OFF YOUR BROOM."

Maud whooshed away.

"Look Mr—er, Miss Evans," blundered the referee, "I realise that may be so, but neither of us were able to witness the catch. I'm sorry."

We were tied. And I may or may not have been ready to kill one of the referees.

"So...what do we do?"

"I REFUSE to share the Cup!" roared Sirius, having his own tantrum. The stands were getting agitated again as well. They only started to settle when I noticed Dumbledore gesture politely for the stands to silence themselves again. He pointed his wand at his own throat and muttered spell before his voice was heard across the pitch: "Each captain will choose one chaser to take a shot that will hopefully break the tie."

My stomach dropped.

The ref blew his whistle and then flew away as quickly as possible once he caught my glare.

"Looks like there's going to be a short pause for both teams to choose their player,"

Everyone landed on the ground, the cries and expletives echoing across the pitch. I couldn't tell if they were directed to the teams or to the referees. Either way, no one was happy. The commentator started explaining to the stands what was going to happen and who would be pitching first—Slytherin.

We exited the pitch, immediately joined by Remus, and Sirius started pacing as soon as we were on the sidelines.

"Okay," he said, turning about the grassy corner furiously, "I'd be willing to bet that they use Nott for the throw. He's got the strongest arm. James' is our strongest arm, but Woodsworth has got a Comet 900," he rattled, but I wasn't listening. I was distracted by Snyder and Snape on the other end of the pitch who were both arguing angrily with Woodsworth. From what I could pick up, they both wanted to take the shot.

Victor elbowed me.

"Hm?"

"Pay attention."

"Well I wanna know who they're picking," I said, craning my neck over Joe's shoulder.

"Looks like Nott," he said.

"Snape looks pissed about it, too." Joe added.

"Think we could distract him with something shiny on the ground?" I asked dryly. The boy had the attention span of a bird.

"No," Sirius muttered, pouting before he brightened with a new thought. "Lily—!"

"I am not flashing him, Sirius!" I snapped.

Half the team visibly deflated.

Christ.

"Jeez, you're going to give Maud a nosebleed at this rate," commented Victor, nodding towards our keeper.

"Speaking of which, you need to get up there now," said James, alarmed. I turned and saw Nott waiting with one of the referees in the centre of the pitch. We both pushed him forcefully back onto the field only to have James follow him out there to help him keep his balance as he climbed back onto his broom.

"We're doomed," moaned Victor, watching Maud fly slightly sideways to the hoops.

I kicked his shin.

Nott quickly took to his own broom and accepted the quaffle from the referee in the air. He wasted little time in approaching the scoring zone, his broom being one of the fast models. Maud looked to be moving in slow motion in comparison and I nearly covered my eyes when the quaffle was launched from Nott's hands towards the far right post.

It went sailing—

"HE MISSED IT!" I cried, excitement bubbling in me like a shaken bottle of butterbeer. Technically, Maud had reached for it but angled himself so far down that the quaffle hit the tail of his broom and bounced off the rim before falling, but still! No goal! Then I realised: "Maud's going sideways—Maud is falling off—WOULD SOMEBODY GET HIM DOWN, PLEASE?"

Miss Pompfrey was already on the move, storming through the middle of the grassy pitch with a look of fury about her and she plucked him off the broom right out of the air and dragged him back off the pitch.

"He'll be all right," Victor said confidentially as he watched Maud get an earful from the irate witch.

"We still need to pick someone!" Jordan said with a growing sense of urgency.

Sirius started to wring his hands together as he paced. "Someone with good one-on-one practice and speed and nimbleness and high accuracy marks from practice—"

Remus tried to stop his rambling, "Sirius—"

"—and can perform under loads, and I mean loads, of pressure, and can carry the element of surprise with them—"

"Padfoot," said James, loudly.

"—because we have to do something unexpected...something crazy."

Sirius looked at me.

"What?" I said.

"You're unexpected and crazy," he said obviously.

"I am not!" I objected, offended. I looked to James to support me on this, but he was pointedly avoiding my gaze. "You know I don't perform well under pressure!" I went on. I really, really did not want to take this shot. "Victor can take it!"

Victor, who had been starting at the clouds, scoffed, "Uh-uh, no way you're all putting this on me."

"I'll do it," said James, his face portraying a dead-set emotion.

"No...Lily should take it," said Remus suddenly.

My eyes went wide like saucers. The traitor!

"How do you figure?" I asked, nonplussed.

"You're a lefty!" Sirius agreed, excitement spreading across his face, "But we rotate positions so much, they probably haven't noticed. They wouldn't expect it!"

James looked at me weirdly. "You're a lefty?" he asked, surprised.

I huffed. Some boyfriend.

"Plus," Jordan added. I also noticed the snitch was still flapping uselessly in his hand. "They'll think that your bad arm is your good arm!"

Merlin, even the little one was betraying me.

Sirius nodded, "They're right."

I let out a noise like: "Nuuughrrghhpph."

A look of dawning realisation crossed Sirius' face, "You'd be able to make the Coroner's Corner Shot!" he said.

My incredulousness turned into severe scepticism, "You want me...to fly all the way up to, and swing completely around, the middle hoop and get the quaffle through the left one...without getting it knocked out of my hands or wind up getting knocked unconscious?" I glared. "Do you know why they call it the Coroner Corner Shot? That's because coroners deal with dead people. It's a suicide throw."

"Possibly. But you're small and quick enough to pull it off and you've got the third fastest broom on the pitch."

"But if Woodsworth so much as touches me while I've still got the quaffle, the shot won't count!"

"That's fine. If that happens and we're still tied they'll just make each team shoot again."

"You can do it, Lily," said Jordan with unyielding support.

The team stared at me.

"Okay FINE." I growled, "I take the suicide mission. But I'm only doing this once!"

"There's a good sport," Sirius patted me on the back. He went to retrieve his broom on the grass. I could hear the rhythmic chanting picking up again. It had a mix of pounding the stands, shouting, and screaming.

I yanked James away from the rest of the team.

"James, I can't do this," I said quietly.

He shook his head. "I know you can," Even as we were being ushered out to the field, he leaned in for a kiss.

"Oy! You two can smooch after we've won the Cup!"

James dove in for a quick peck anyways and we stepped back onto the pitch hand and hand.

"If you make it," he said, "I'll take you to France this summer. Er, legally, I mean."

I blinked owlishly at him.

Mistaking my reaction, he quickly backpedalled, "Uh, well you know that we have a house on the coast and all and my mum likes you and she bought this muggle chocolate fountain thing last year," he rambled nervously, "and Charlie vacations down there as well and we always have people from school stopping so we don't get a lot of privacy, but I mean it's usually loads of fun—"

"James, you had me at chocolate fountain," I told him seriously.

He stopped. "Really?"

"I'd have to double check with my uncle," I admitted, shrugging and trying not to smile too much, "But I would love to visit you in France. Heck, I'll even pack my broom and we can start practicing for next year!"

"Next year?" roared Sirius, appearing seemingly out of nowhere causing us both to jump. "Let's focus on winning the Cup now!"

"Right, sorry!" I shook my head to get myself back on track.

"Good luck," James said quietly, squeezing my hand before slowly detangling his fingers from mine and urging me forward.

"Looks like it's the keeper verses...the cross dresser. Er, sorry, professors; just kidding again..."

No, no, no. I've changed my mind. I don't want to do it.

Oh god, I couldn't do this. I wanted to go back to my happy thoughts of James and chocolate fountains in France.

The referee handed me the quaffle and he motioned for me to take off into the air with him. Both teams remained on the ground since there was no need for them to be in the air. There was so much noise coming from the stand that it was making me dizzy.

What was I supposed to do again?

Uhh...

Quidditch! (That was a start.) Quidditch and quaffle! Chaser! Me, chaser!

Um, um, um.

The Coroner Corner Shot!

Woodsworth was weaving in and out of the goalposts, waiting for me to approach.

"GO EVANS!"

"COME ON LILY!"

"LIL-AYYYY!"

"GO, GO, GRYFFINDOR!"

The referee popped the whistle out of his mouth, "You gonna go soon?" he asked.

I did not even merit him with an answer. I squeezed the quaffle tightly and zoomed off in the direction of the goalposts. The cheering increased even more and I thought I might fall off my broom if my legs turned anymore into jelly. I drew closer and closer and the keeper stopped weaving. I made a point of pretending to go right, to lead him off, so he would think I was only faking once, but zipped back towards the centre hoop.

Here it comes, I braced myself.

I poised like I was about to throw the quaffle, but at the last possible second, I pulled it back and spun so fast around the hoop in a jug-handle turn that my shoulder was closer to the ground than my knees. The keeper spun and attempted to follow me but as I came round the front, I brought the quaffle out singlehandedly from under my arm to aim and throw it towards the left goalpost.

It left my fingers as soon as Woodsworth's fist found my face and I lost all sense of direction.

There was cheering, there was booing, there were shouts of indiscernible emotion. I heard my name shouted from the team below. I clutched the side of my face and tried to blindly steer myself to the ground. I could feel blood at the corner of my mouth.

"Lily!"

"Did I make it?" I asked as soon as my feet touched the grass.

I heard my name being chanted.

Somebody laughed, "Yeah you made it!"

"And you got smacked in the face!"

I cracked open my eyes just in time to be lifted off my feet by James. Despite the roar of the crowd, I could still hear him whisper into my ear, "You were brilliant," and he kissed the top of my head.

"SO EFFING BRILLIANT!" exclaimed Sirius, jumping on top of us, "I LOVE YOU BOTH SO. MUCH. RIGHT NOW." He jumped off us and went to run and hug the rest of the team. "WE'VE WON! WE'VE WON!"

"We did it," laughed James. He looked like he was going to say something else, but I cut him off by kissing whatever part of his face was closest to my mouth.

I never saw the crowd pouring on to the pitch in a blur of scarlet and gold. I only realised that there was more than just me and James on the grass when both of us, and the rest of the team, were hoisted onto the shoulders of the student body, the cheering so loud that I couldn't even hear my own thoughts. I looked at James and never had I seen him smile so widely and I couldn't help but feel this bubble elation swell in my heart.

We had won the Championship, but I felt like we were victorious in so much more.

:-:
-:FIN:-

A six year journey and it's finally over...sigh...it's actually finished.

...

Quit laughing! I'm being serious! It's finally over! No more chapters and no sequel!

Nothing!

Well, okay, just a tiny Epilogue.

TINY!