To Ali, Ginny, Chlo and Alexandra: Thank you so much for the wonderful support and reviews! I'm so glad you are all enjoying the story! :)

P.S. Alexandra: Yes! We don't really have ice hockey here but from my experience ice skating I'd probably spend most of my time face down on the ice...

Speaking of sports...

Chapter 21

Giant Mutant Butterflies

It was Friday and James sat in class looking back on the long week behind him. The match was the next day and Rangi was still stuck with the rubbish school broomstick. Meanwhile, James had finally made his way into the secret underground club but so far he was not too happy with what he had found. It wasn't that he was disappointed with the cub itself. It was a really cool place, you could find almost anything down in those Chambers. It was exactly what he had found that was troubling him.

"Why are the odds on me catching the snitch tomorrow so low?" He grumbled, bad-temperedly to his friends.

"Those odds are based on previous matches and technically James, you've never actually caught the snitch in a match." Blue sighed, "Meanwhile Lysander Flint's been around for a while and there's a reason he's Slytherin Captain, James."

"You know you're not doing the best job at restoring my confidence!" James snapped as their Transfiguration teacher glared down the room at them.

"You know, if the odds are against you and you catch the snitch, anyone who bets on you will win loads of money." Alex pointed out.

James thought about this. Alex was right. Perhaps there was a way he could use this to his advantage - but he didn't know if he could beat Lysander. Maybe he would if he had gold on himself. He could see Rangi's face in his minds eye. He knew what the captain would do.

"Okay then. After school, I'm going to go down to the club and place a bet on the match." James said decisively.

When he returned to Gryffindor tower that night, James was euphoric. Everything suddenly seemed to being going his way. His Quidditch skills were better than ever, he felt swift, fast and, unlike in the lead up to matches last year, confident. Lysander was good. Very good. But James had size on his side and the weather conditions were suited to him this time. Rangi kept worrying about was the Beater's trying to take him out early in the game so James had been spending the week dodging and weaving on his broom while Molly and Albus got practice trying to hit him. It was a little scary but it was challenging in a good way and after a bit of practice James had decided that it was actually very fun. To top it all off, he had finally succeed and taken his place in Leopold's secret gambling club and it was just as wonderful as James had hoped.

"You're cheerful." Observed Alex as James marched into the dormitory on Friday evening with a huge grin on his face.

"Yep!"

"Not worried about the match?" Blue asked over the top of a large book.

"Nope!" James replied.

"You were down at the club weren't you?" Blue asked with a raised eyebrow.

James grinned even more. Unlike himself, Blue had spent very little time in the club. He had spent most of the week reading large books in the library.

"Yep!" James told him, "And I've placed my bet for tomorrow."

Alex sat up straight staring at James curiously.

"So you're pretty confident about the outcome?" Blue asked.

"Well, if I didn't have to win before, I do now!" Smiled James.

"How much did you bet?" Blue asked cautiously.

"Not that much! Actually, yeah, quite a lot..." James admitted, "But that's not what I mean! I just really, really want to win."

"Mmm..." Blue murmured returning to his book.

Alex tossed James a packet of sweets from a messy pile next to his bed.

"How's it going over there, Blue?" Alex asked eyeing the large book inquisitively.

"Actually... I may have just found something!" Blue said.

James and Alex crowded around him. Blue pointed and read aloud,

"The excavation team was led by Richard Forrest, who is well-known amongst archaeologists for his search for mythical artifacts such as the legendary Wand of Aradia and for his theory on the existence of the salvus volumina ex Alexandria and research on the statuas fundatorum."

"So what?" James asked pulling a face.

"Statuas Fundatorum." Repeated Blue.

"Sorry Blue, my Latin's a little rusty." James grumbled.

"I think it means founders' statues." Blue explained.

"Founders?" James asked puzzled.

"Blue, when did you learn Latin?" Asked Alex.

Blue sighed, "I don't I'm guessing. It's very like founders' statues in French."

"But I don't get it? Why founders? And I don't even know if you can call this a statue." James pointed out picking up the heavy golden snake.

"You don't think it's related to the Hogwart's Founders?" Alex asked, brow furrowed.

"That's exactly what I think." Blue said seriously, "Think about it. The entire search was around Hogwarts, one of the clues even talked about the four founders, remember?"

James nodded but was still unconvinced.

"Who do you associate with snakes after all?" Blue urged.

"Slytherin wasn't the only wizard associated with snakes." James said quickly defending his favourite animal.

The door opened and the three boys fell silent. James tucked the golden snake into the folds of his robes. Their roommates Rory and Owen walked into the room chatting.

"Bedtime?" Suggested James but what he really meant was let's talk tomorrow.

Blue nodded without breaking eye contact.

As James lay in bed, he found himself clutching the cold, gold of the statue. His confidence from earlier was waning. He found himself hoping to hope that he was right about tomorrow. That they really would beat the Slytherins. He looked into the emerald eyes of the statue as he tucked it carefully into the drawer beside his bed.

"Wish me luck." James whispered quietly, though even if the others could hear him, he knew they couldn't understand him...

Saturday morning arrived. Albus woke suddenly and at first he couldn't understand why he had felt so sick. The butterflies in his stomach from the night before seemed to have swollen like giant mutants all fighting for room. He went down to the Great Hall without waking Philip and ate by himself. Nothing tasted right.

The rest of the Gryffindor team arrived, they all seemed excited and confident.

The Slytherin team arrived too in the same jolly mood. Tension in the Hall was at a peak and there was much jeering and shouting from the two tables. Albus felt far apart from it all. Philip joined him but didn't say much, he could see Albus didn't feel like talking.

"Albus? Albus!" Called a distant voice.

Albus looked up. The rest of the team were on their feet.

"Earth to Albus? We're going down to the pitch. Are you coming or not?" James demanded.

"Eh- Sorry! Right." Albus mumbled standing up and abandoning the rest of his breakfast.

James sighed and Albus glanced nervously at Philip, who smiled reassuringly.

A large group of Slytherins in the Entrance Hall jeered at them as they passed. Albus tried to block it out as Rangi led them, smiling confidently, out of the castle. Albus was last and as he followed an older boy tripped him up. He caught onto James's sleeve as he stumbled.

Frustrated tears prickled his eyes. James looked down at him in frustration.

"Geez! Toughen up Al!" He hissed.

Albus glared at him, "I don't remember you being so cocky at your first game!"

He knew James just didn't want him embarrassing himself in front of the Slytherins but Albus couldn't help feeling defensive.

James opened his mouth to protest but before he could Rangi had leapt between the two of them.

"I'll have no silly bickering!" He demanded resting an arm around each of the siblings' shoulders, "Look up there!"

Albus and James looked up.

"Beautiful!" Rangi breathed staring directly at the sky, "Absolutely perfect! Clear, crisp but not cold and with just enough cloud cover to hide the sun's glare!"

Albus could see exactly what the Captain meant. They could not have hoped for a more perfect day and the absence of wind would be particularly promising for James.

"Today is a good day." Rangi informed them, "I can feel victory in the air!"

"You're crazy." Molly told him with a hand on her hip.

Rangi grinned stupidly and let go of James and Albus, taking his place at the front as they marched down the hill. Albus glanced at James. There was no use fighting with James today. There were bigger adversaries to worry about. James seemed to feel the same.

"What do you do if you can't get a shot at the Chaser who's in position?" James quizzed him.

"Hit the person they're most likely to pass to." Albus answered.

"And if their Beater takes a shot at you?"

"Redirect it at one of their other players. Don't hit it back." Albus replied quickly, as they reached the changing rooms.

"Because..." His brother coaxed.

"Because then they have the Bludger." Albus replied, "And they'll hit one of us."

"If they can." Smirked James.

"If they can." Agreed Albus.

No matter what they fought about, Quidditch was the Potters' common ground. James and Albus both knew this.

"Team talk!" Called Rangi and everyone gathered around him, "Right. We have a really, really good chance at this today. We need this victory. We should have won the Cup last year but luck wasn't on our side. This year, we don't need luck. We're too good now to be beaten by a bunch of slimy thugs on broomsticks. We have skill and talent and..."

"And what?" Molly asked skeptically as Rangi ran out of words.

"And unity!" Rangi declared dramatically, "A team of united, hard-working players who help each other and who rely on each other!"

"Here here!" Called Freddy laughing merrily.

"We've got everything we need to win this so let's just go out there and show 'em who's boss!" Roared Rangi, "Are we ready?"

The team cheered. Albus felt himself joining in. The mutant butterflies had subsided to edgy anticipation. Rangi's pure excitement was contagious.

"Let's go!"

Rangi ushered them all out onto the Quidditch pitch where they were met by volumous roars. The stands were packed. Albus suddenly felt like a zoo animal with everyone watching him.

"Ignore it." He heard James whisper behind him, "Play just like in training."

Albus nodded and took up his position, oblivious to the surrounding cheers. Rangi and Lysander crushed each others fingers. The whistle blew and the teams took off.

Sorry to leave it hanging there! The match is on the way. :)