Still don't own any characters that you recognise--except Samantha Tchaikovsky, you might start recognising her now…I hope…*long silence* (I know some of you are like "uh, Tchaikovsky?" Yeah, I'm onto you.)

Alright, here is a very long chapter that most of you may like. First off, I would like to submit that I really didn't want to sort through my story to see if I had already named some of the Slytherin players, OR had stolen their names from previous players. So sorry, but I made up new ones.

Also, you may get to a certain part and wonder why James thinks it's so hot that Lily kisses the Quidditch Cup (oops, did I give something away? Oh, it isn't as if you didn't see it coming.) Well, I think guys like sports so much, that they think it's twice as hot when the girl they like (in James' case, Lily) is into the sport they like (in this case, Quidditch.) Have you ever had a hot guy talk to you because you were wearing the football jersey of the team he liked? Yeah, like that. Only cooler cuz it's the Marauders.

Also, you may come to another particular scene. YES, okay? I ended with another kissing scene with Sam and Sirius (I know that some of you just scrolled down to the bottom and CHEATED! Wouldn't it be mean if I just lied to you? Oooh did I? Please don't look, it all should really be read in order.) So sue me. I love them. I love Sirius, actually, and Sam is like the girl that every girl who reads this wants to be. And so, I wrote another little snog session for them (more lies? You'll have to find out without CHEATING!) I'm sorry, it's like I have a disease, alright?

Alright, I wanted to get a few more things out. For now, I am NOT going to screw things up between Sirius and Sam. I promise. Please, everyone put down the pitchforks and torches and just relax. They are together for at least a month. How's that for a bad promise? What else? Oh yeah, this is the longest chapter I wrote, and it physically drained me, so I don't know how long it's going to be, so I hope you all enjoy this and leave me lots of long reviews, even if all you do is yell at me for having an unhealthy obsession with Sam/ Sirius (they're the only fun ones anyway. We all know what happens with Lily and James, [she says stubbornly])

Love Always,

Fae

The Quidditch Cup: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

"So you're leaving next Saturday for your house?" Sam asked, stabbing her broccoli that night at dinner.

"Yeah, right before Easter. I'll be there for two days and then I'll be back," Lily responded.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?" James demanded gently, his arm around her waist as he stared at her worriedly.

"Yes, thank you," she assured him, smiling, "I would rather not have you meet my sister and brother-in-law under these circumstances."

"In other words, she doesn't want you to see her go all whoop ass on Petunia," Sam injected, leaning in. raising her arms in a karate stance.

"Evans? No way," said Sirius, grinning.

"You'd be surprised," Sam said, "You may call me Nutcracker, but Lily, she's pretty tough."

"If she doesn't kick your ass, Padfoot, I will," James promised, looking evenly at Sirius.

Lily smiled to herself. This was how her life had been for nearly an entire week. Tomorrow was seven days since she had found out her parents had died, also known as the day James had told her that he loved her. She often wondered if she would be damned in some afterlife for letting the latter occurrence overshadow the first, but she couldn't escape the feeling that her parents would have been wonderfully happy with James…and the fact that he loved her.

As it turned out, that was a rather eventful day on numerous levels. Not only had she made leaps and bounds in her relationship with James (though she often wondered where exactly they were going to go after having professed their love for each other), but she had decided to devote herself to Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, for it was in this way that Lily saw she had her best chance of avenging her parents.

But it wasn't just her parents that she would be fighting for, she had made sure of that before she had made the decision. She was fighting for the sister and brother-in-law that she did, upon which she did admittedly wish to open up a can of whoop-ass, she was fighting for James, the boy she knew now that she loved, and for everyone else whose lives were being affected by Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Calm down, Prongsie, I'm not having a go at Evans," Sirius defended himself.

"Yeah, because you've never had 'a go' at anyone, isn't that right?" Sam asked, looking humored. Lily had noticed a definite change coming over Sam since that one fateful night. She was dwelling less on her accident and her past and most definitely looking towards the future, which was rather important seeing as she had also signed herself to the Order.

"That's completely right, Nutcracker," said Sirius, innocently, then his face changed, "Wait, what kind of go are you talking about? Because I've had a lot of—"

"Oh shut up," ordered Sam, flicking a piece of rice at him, "Dinner is hardly the time to talk about your escapades."

"I like calling them that. And I like how you made it plural. You must think highly of me, Tchaikovsky. "

"Has it ever occurred to you that that could also be a sign of thinking lowly of you?" Sam inquired.

"No. Absolutely not. But I still like that name," said Sirius thoughtfully, "Escapades makes it sound really…"

"Gay," finished James as they all stood to head back to the common room. Sirius punched his arm.

"I've always wondered why boys were so sensitive about men being gay…everyone for that matter, but no one really seems to care about girls who aren't straight," Sam said thoughtfully, and Lily nodded.

"That's because to guys, it really wouldn't matter if a girl was straight or not. She's hot either way," Sirius said, looking at her seriously.

"That doesn't make any sense," Lily interjected as James took her hand as they filed upstairs, "You have a chance with a straight girl, not so with a gay one."

James laughed as a group of first years in front of them turned to stare at them with wide eyes, having just overheard their conversations.

"Sorry," Lily said, looking at the smaller children fondly. They looked at her with alarm.

"Keep it moving," James ordered, and they ran ahead, still checking over their shoulders as if they were mad, "Now your logic makes sense, but you're not a male."

"Exactly," Sirius said, looking happy to have someone on his side to argue with him, "We don't care if we have a shot with you or not, you're still hot."

"You're telling me, Black, that if I had the hots for Narcissa Black, you would still find me hot?"

"That's assuming I found you attractive in the first place," Sirius said, his face completely straight. Sam's jaw dropped, but she closed it quickly in a pout, "But yeah, that would be hot. You don't, though, do you?" he asked, in all earnestness.

"Oh yes, I do," said Sam, putting on an alluring look as they approached the portrait hole, "there are many of my own escapades that you, my inexperienced little friend, have never heard about."

Sirius stared at her, mouth slightly agape, as Sam had just called him inexperienced and little in the same sentence. It was most likely a first for him, and they all laughed.

"Calm yourself down," said Sam, dropping her lusty façade and rolling her eyes.

"I don't think you understand what you've just done to him," James told her as they all passed through the portrait hole and into the common room.

"Oh, but she does," Lily said, and Sam spared her a wink.

"Alright, I think we need to give Padfoot a chance to cool off," said James, looking sideways at Sirius, who couldn't keep his eyes off Sam. James took the chance to smack him in the back of his head. It seemed to do the trick, and Sirius blinked a few times, "But you, Nutcracker, need to get some sleep."

"What are you, my mother?" asked Sam, looking up alarmedly from the magazine she was unrolling, "I didn't finish my homework early so I could get some extra sleep."

"I'm your coach," James reminded her.

"Ooh…" Sam said, putting her magazine away anyway, "Fine. But only for the team, not because you told me to."

"Of course," said James, sitting down with Lily.

"You do everything of your own accord," Lily soothed Sam, who was looking thoroughly annoyed.

"I'll see you all tomorrow," Sam said bitterly, her face brightening suddenly as she skipped towards the stairs of the dormitories, "I've to go to bed at my bedtime so I don't get in trouble," she crooned in a decidedly childish voice.

"Good night," Lily called. Sam stuck her head over the banister.

"Hey, do we have stuff for the victory party tomorrow?" she asked, looking sincerely at them, "Like, should we go get stuff tonight or…"

"Go to bed, Sam," Lily sighed.

"And don't start talking about winning before the game is over," James added, looking solemn.

"You're such a coach," Sam sighed, closing the dormitory door behind her.

"I think it's cute when you're in charge," Lily whispered in James' ear and before she saw him move, he turned and kissed her. She returned it as usual, but felt herself start to melt into him.

"Right, well, since I have to commentate tomorrow, I don't want to be low on sleep either. And I don't want to be sick," Sirius added loudly, standing and trekking up to his own dormitory.

"Good night, Black," Lily said politely, detaching herself from James for a small moment of decorum.

"Yeah yeah, good night," James said, steering Lily's face back towards his own. They sat for a moment longer, kissing, snogging. Lily felt James hand on her knee and she pulled away, knowing she had to stop before she did anything rash.

"Are you sure I shouldn't come with you, Lily? When you go back home, I mean?" James asked, placing his hand on her knee and keeping it there. It felt good and warm, "I mean, I'm going to have to meet your sister and brother-in-law anyway, right? And I don't want them doing anything to you," he added, nearly growling. She smiled at his concern, knowing it was mirrored by herself. It was a feeling beyond comfort.

"Thanks, love, I'll take care of myself."

"But you don't have to, you know," James said, "Now that you have me, I'm always here for you, whenever you need me."

"Thank you," she said, leaning her head against the hollow of his neck and chest.

"Say it," James said, his mouth on her hair.

"What?" she asked.

"That you know I'm here for you. Sometimes I worry," he admitted softly, and she couldn't think of another time that he had been so cute.

"I—" she twisted her head to kiss his neck, "Know—" she moved up towards his mouth, "you're—" his bottom lip, "there—" top lip, "for—" both, "me—" she kissed him hard, and pulled his tie so that he was even closer to her.

"I love you, Lily," James said, not taking his lips from hers. She really didn't feel like she needed to respond, but she had the deep, burning desire to do so.

"I love you too, James."

And that was the way that Lily and James fell asleep on the couch together, Lily wrapped in his arms, their faces never far from each other's.

Sam awoke early the next morning, feeling the customary butterflies that her stomach experienced before she undertook something that could be potentially embarrassing to herself. It was humorous to her that even after having her life threatened by Quidditch, that when she got on a broom, she didn't worry about repeating her accident, but rather whether or not she was going to embarrass herself.

She saw with surprise that Lily wasn't in her bed. She rarely awoke before Sam on game days, it just wasn't something she did. Sam shrugged off the feeling of something being out of place and dressed in her underclothes of her Quidditch robes. She balled the red robes up and put them under her arm to carry down with her, threw a grey sweater over herself and exited the room.

When her feet reached the floor of the common room, she was faced with the sight of Lily and James asleep on the couch together. It was adorable, but she couldn't help wondering if they had managed to stay fully clothed throughout the night. Seeing that Lily didn't look too out of place, she decided that nothing had happened.

Well now what? She wasn't going to wake Lily up, and James was asleep too, so she really didn't have anything to do. A stray idea somehow pushed itself to the forefront of her brain: she could go up and visit Sirius. Surely he was still in his dormitory and surely he wouldn't mind her stopping by. They had been more than congenial since the night he had kissed her, though not too much more. They hadn't kissed again, but between them was the undeniable feeling that they were somehow…dare she say it? Together.

She disregarded knocking, unable to keep the smirk of payback off her face, and entered the room.

"Morning," she said to Lupin, who was awake and moving about the room. She hadn't seen him for a while, and it was rather nice to see his kind face again. She knew that he and Jamie were still together, though on and off again, which was how she decided they were preparing for their inevitable breakup.

"Hey, Samantha," he said, looking up at her with tired eyes.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine in a few days," he promised, "Good luck at the match today."

"Thank you," she said, sitting down on what she knew to be Lupin's bed, "But I think I actually get to walk down with you guys today. Special circumstances with the Cup…"

"Yeah," he said vaguely, and on the bed across from her, the large lump which was presumably Sirius, gave a great stir. She took a pillow off of Lupin's bed and threw it at Sirius, who sat up quickly. His eyes adjusted and stared at the source of his awakening.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" he demanded, getting out of bed and grabbing his button-up shirt. She saw with slight embarrassment, and maybe a little delight, ew—she squashed the thought out of her mind—that he was only in his boxers and socks.

"Lily's still asleep," she said, looking bored.

"James? You should be down practicing already, right?"

"James is asleep. With Lily," she added for slight effect. She got it, too. Sirius and Lupin's heads turned to stare at her.

"No way. Where?" Sirius asked.

"As if it matters. They're just downstairs," she said.

"And so you came up to see us? How lonely are you, Nutcracker?" Sirius asked her, pulling on his black school pants and tying his tie.

"Well it isn't as if I have anyone else to go see," she said matter-of-factly.

"What about Narcissa?" Lupin asked, "I heard you and her had…well…a history."

"Who told you that?" Sam asked, but it was a moot question. Lupin glanced at Sirius. Of course he was still thinking about their conversation from last night. It was so stupid that she had ever brought up "being with" Narcissa Black, the very thought of whom made her wretch, but she had wanted to see Sirius' reaction. It was seriously messed up.

"You know what? I have to go meet Jamie," Lupin said, exiting the room efficiently.

"Sorry," Sirius said, looking over at her. She imagined she was a glum sight in her bulky sweater and dejected face as she waited for Lily.

"You're fine."

"How fine?" he asked, smirking as he sat down next to her.

"Wouldn't you like to hear," she shook her head, pulling her knees up under her chin.

"I don't mean to pry, but you and my dear cousin were never really…"

"No," she said with emphasis, "I just said that to mess with you. I like boys," she added emphatically.

"I was kind of hoping," he said, his eyes laughing, "the way that you kiss boys wouldn't really lead them to believe that you aren't fond of them."

"Thanks," she said, allowing herself to smile.

"And can I ask you something else?" he asked.

"Does that count?" she responded smartly.

"No."

"Fine."

"How fin—"

"Sirius, just ask."

"Are you really that experienced?"

"Oh my god," she moaned, falling back on the bed, "Let it go, man," she begged, turning her head to look at him, "I was just messing with you. None of what I said was true." She clarified, a bit resentfully.

"I figured," he said, his confidence back, "When you called me little, that gave it away," he grinned as she slapped his arm.

"You are such a tease," she said, looking up at the canopy of the bed.

"And what do you call yourself?" he asked, staring at her openly, "Coming in here when I am not dressed…."

"Oh, are you pretty sensitive about your privacy?" she inquired, her mouth smiling.

"…Lying back on the bed like you do…"

"Now that's just a problem with you if you think that this is my way of teasing you," she said.

"Do you have a better way?" he inquired, and she sat up, took a deep breath, then put on her flirting face.

"Sirius?" she asked, drawing out his name and tracing her finger on his chest.

"Yeah?" he asked, trying to look nonchalant, but she heard his voice catch.

"You are so…fine…" she said heavily, moving her body so that it was nearly on top of his, but still on the bed, "And I'll bet…," she ran her hand down his chest, stopped then moved back up, "that you are even more fine…"

"Would you stop it?" he asked, "Alright I get it…"

"Yeah, but I kind of like it…" she said, letting her mouth hang open. She saw him start to lean in to her.

"Do you really?" he asked, "Cuz you can keep—"

"Sucker," she said, dropping her act and standing up, "I'll bet that Lily's back up by now." She added, her voice completely normal, all hint of desire completely gone.

"That is exactly what I mean," Sirius said, looking both discomfited and upset.

"What do you mean, that's what you mean?" she demanded, "I just showed you that I never tease you. Name another time I've done that," she demanded. He stared at her, "Exactly." She grabbed her Quidditch robes.

"What's going on between us?" Sirius' voice stopped her as she reached for the door. She turned around and looked at him, leaning back on the wood.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I kiss you, we flirt, you kiss me, we fight, we snog, we flirt. What's going on?"

"I don't know," she said a bit defensively, "What do you want to be going on?"

"I don't know," he repeated, standing up and looking at her, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I want us to be friends, I guess."

"Alright then, we can try that. I think we may have to cut out the snogging, though. Friends don't snog, they just fight and flirt."

"Unless they're friends with benefits," he said, raising his eyebrows.

"And I'm supposed to accept you as a chum," she said sardonically, shaking her head.

"Sorry. You know, I wanted to give this a try before, and I sent you that note, which you just ignored, by the way…"

"What note?" she demanded. Was he mental?

"I sent you that note the night after you got so upset when you were hopped up on Codeinogg? And I said that I would be there for you, and that I would have taken that Bludger for you any day."

She stared. How sweet was he being right now? He ran his hand behind his neck, looking at her expectantly.

"Sirius, I never got a note like that…"

"I sent it," he exclaimed, looking taken aback.

"I believe you," she said in a placating manner, "I just never got it."

"Well, I sent it," he said again.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at him with a bit more respect than she had ever felt before. She crossed the room and hugged him tightly. It was a stretch, seeing as he was so much taller than she, but it felt wonderful, and he hugged her back, his arms around her waist.

"Are friends allowed to do this?" he asked, his voice in her ear. She found herself wishing very badly that she had never offered to be friends….just friends.

"Yeah," she said quietly, pulling away, "And I think we're still allowed to kiss, just not, you know, snog or anything."

"Oh, alright," he smirked, looking as though he knew she was making up any rules she wanted, "C'mon, we need to get down to the pitch so you can start warming up."

"Okay," she agreed, opening the door. He took it from her and held it.

"After you," he said.

James woke up to two very different feelings. One was immense elation at seeing Lily's beautiful face upon waking, the other was extreme annoyance at what had awakened him. Sirius stood over them, Sam, though less annoying, was near the fire.

"Oi, lovers!" Sirius half-yelled, half-whispered. Lily groaned and nestled back into James. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair, "Jesus Christ, get up! You've a game you have to go captain and win!" Sirius reminded them. Lily opened her eyes and looked at Sirius and Sam, then at James. She smiled.

"Good morning," she said, kissing him carefully. Then, suddenly, she sat up, "Oh God, were we down here the whole night?" she asked, looking around the common room. James sat up too, a bit more lazily, not really caring where they had slept or for how long. As long as he was with Lily.

"Yeah," James said, hoping to calm her, she just looked more frazzled and stood up, completely dressed in her school robes. James watched her body move, and couldn't escape that wanting to have those robes elsewhere.

"Can't you just see them on their honeymoon?" Sam asked, looking delighted as Lily and James turned a disdainful eye to her. Sirius, catching on, went to stand next to her. Sam put on a high voice, which she obviously thought embodied Lily's. It did not, "Oh Jesus, James, did we sleep together…all night?"

"I think we did, Lily," Sirius said in a hearty voice far from his—or James'—own.

"Oh bugger," Sam-Lily said looking scared.

"I know," Sirius-James shook his head, disappointedly, "Even though we're married properly now…"

"Oh put a sock in it," said Lily, putting on her own socks as she started towards the Girl's dormitory. Sirius and Sam laughed, but let it drop. James, for one, really didn't see what the big problem was. But if Lily was unhappy then there was obviously something he had to fix, "I'm going to go change," she added, taking the stairs two at a time. James watched her until the last possible second.

"Really?" he asked, looking at Sirius.

"Sorry, mate," Sirius said, holding his hands up.

"I let you two sleep," Sam added, "But I knew Lily was going to react like that, so I thought it would be better if we woke you up, rather than someone else."

"Fine," said James, not really feeling as if she had done whatever favor for them that she was posing, "We have to get down to the field, anyway," he said.

"That's what I told you," Sirius looked at him sadly. James punched him.

"I'm going to change, then I'll be right back down," he said, looking once more at the spot he had last seen Lily. He changed quickly into his full Quidditch robes and returned downstairs to the common room. Sam, Sirius and Lily were already there.

"We have an hour," Sam said to him, looking about as nervous as he felt. He nodded.

"I'll bet everyone else is down at the pitch," he said as they proceeded out the door. He caught Lily's hand in his own as they continued down the hall. They stopped shortly at the Great Hall and grabbed a few rolls and slices of bacon, but chose to enjoy them while walking out on the grounds. The rest of the school was awake and moving about, preparing themselves to watch the Quidditch House Cup, otherwise known as the best event at Hogwarts.

James examined the weather as they stepped outside. It was decidedly chilly, but the sun was out and the frost was melting quickly into dew that would evaporate before the game. Playing in the wet was worse than the cold. It made the game balls especially difficult to retain possession of.

"Little bit of wind," he said aloud, "But not enough to bother anyone," he added.

"The weather," said Sirius dramatically, "what a great topic."

"Shut up," said James, who found himself saying that quite frequently to a seemingly-empowered Sirius. He secretly suspected that it had something to do with Sam, but the pair had maintained their typical flirting manner; James didn't see anything too different.

"Are you nervous?" Lily asked of both Sam and James. Sam nodded immediately, "James?" Lily turned her attention to him.

"A little," he shrugged, "I think we can take them."

"I'll bet you guys can, too," replied Lily.

"I'll be backing you guys up from the booth," Sirius added, "I've spent the better part of my classes coming up with some inventive names for the Slytherins."

"I'll bet you have," Sam said, non-believing as they approached the pitch. James caught a sight of the familiar red and gold robes floating above the field already.

"We should get warmed up," James said, and Sam nodded, "I'll see you in a bit," James turned to Lily and kissed her fondly, squeezed her hand once, then headed out to the field with Sam close behind, "You ready for this, Nutcracker?" James asked, looking sideways at Sam, whose face was set.

"Yeah, you?" she asked. He nodded.

"We need you, today, so…"

"So don't get hit in the head by another Bludger?" she supposed, then laughed, "I'll do my best."

"Good," he said, grabbing his broom as Veronica and the rest of the team landed beside them, "Alright everyone, we aren't going to spend much time warming up because I think we're as warm as we're going to get. Everyone take a few spins around the field, stretch, get a drink, do what you need to. We meet in the lockers in thrity minutes, alright?"

Everyone nodded and went off in their different directions. Sam, Jamie and Veronica disappeared on the other side of the pitch, talking about whatever brilliant plan they had developed, Cooper and Robinson took a few swings with their bats, stretched their arms, Zimmerman looked as if he were having a hard time not vomiting.

Admittedly, James was having the same feeling. This was it. This was his last shot before he left. This was….this was an excellent pep talk, was what it was, and with that he jumped on his broom, letting the incredible feeling of flying take away his nerves, as he saved his thinking for his team in the locker room.

He came down half an hour later and joined his team in the locker room. Above them, the entire school was filling in. He snuck a look out and saw that the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had borrowed from their Gryffindor friends, and also turned out in red and gold. Only a quarter of the stadium was in green.

"Alright everyone," James turned his attention to the six other people with him. Veronica was looking pissed, which was also known as her normal game face, Jamie was chewing her nails, Sam was tapping her fingers on her knees to a song she only knew, Cooper looked green, Robinson looked white, Zimmerman just looked terrified, "Well, here we are. This is our last game. For a lot of us, it might be out last game ever. For that reason alone, it's important to go out there and fight and win. Because that's what we do. But you can't just go out there fighting for your team. That's a good start, but you need to find something inside of you that you're fighting for. You have to win for yourself. Good?"

Everyone nodded numbly, Sam mumbled some affirmative phrase.

"Alright then," said James, "There's no formal announcement today. We just all go out and wait, right? Let's go."

They all stood and filed out, James first, his team behind. The entire school sat above them, restless and waiting, the Slytherins sat on the other side of the pitch, looking moody.

"James!"

He turned to see Lily, Remus and Sirius all hanging back by the locker rooms.

"Hey," he said, relieved to see her again before they started.

"Good luck," she stared at him, then ran forward and kissed him. He held her close and kissed her back, then set her back on the ground.

"Good luck, man," Sirius said, shaking James hand and giving him a half-hug.

"Thanks."

"Good luck, Sam," Lily said, hugging Sam and kissing her cheek.

"Thanks,"

"And Jamie," said Lily, waving at Jamie, who was hugging Lupin.

"Er…" Sirius looked at Sam, who was staring at the ground, "Well…good luck then, Tchaikovsky." He reached out and pulled her into him for a large and very awkward hug. Sam returned it and looked relieved that nothing else had happened.

"Thanks," she said, when he released her.

"Mr. Black!" McGonagall was staring at them all suspiciously from the booth.

"See ya," Sirius said, looking back at Sam again, who was biting her lip so hard that James saw blood start to pool. He sprinted up the stairs to the booth and took his place near the window.

"Bye," Lily said, quickly moving up into the stands before James could act on the urge he had to run away with her.

"Oi, Captain!" Veronica called and James and Sam moved quickly out onto the field in their positions.

"Welcome everyone, to the Quidditch….House….Cup!!!" Sirius boomed from the booth and the school erupted in cheers so loud that James swore his ear may have begun to bleed. But the excitement was enough to chase away his nerves, and he found himself eager to get up and play, "Today I bring you Gryffindor!" Huge cheering and surprisingly large booing, "And Slytherin!" Slight cheering, but huge booing that wasn't surprising at all, "If everyone's ready then…."

The school cheered one more time as Madame Hooch took the field. James saw her look concernedly at Sam, then to the captains.

"Shake hands," she ordered, and James stepped up to shake the large, bone-crushing mass of flesh which was the hand of Kent Uwate. Both men grimaced at each other as the other tried to squeeze the opposite hand off, "Release," Madame Hooch added, and both did so, "Players on your brooms."

Her whistle blew and James erupted into the sky, the wind in his ears, the crowd deafening any other sound…but then he heard Sirius' commentary above it all.

"Craig takes the first possession for Slytherin after a cheap-shot, cowardly beating on Yates to have her release, down the field, no passing, not a real team player, tries to take a shot on his own, but has it taken from him by Tchaikovsky, who has returned from an earlier injury. It's Tchaikovsky to Zimmerman, strange but not unheard of, the Keeper tosses it out to Moore. Moore to Yates, Yates back to Moore. Moore to Tchaikovsky, Tchaikovsky down the field to Yates, back, to Moore, shoot and saved by Uwate. Nice shot by Moore, much closer than Craig's anyway, I think the Slytherins now see how playing as a team is actually beneficial."

The game continued in a clawing manner, fighting for every possession, every pass, for no matter how much they hated the Slytherins, those players in green and silver were just as talented and, because they weren't afraid to break the rules, they were beating them. Twelve possessions later, McGinty had scored ten unanswered points for the Slytherins.

"Zimmerman passes it out to Moore. Moore down the field, dodges the beater Inning, down the field, loops around Craig, passes to Tchaikovsky, shoots, Tchaikovsky scores the first points for Gryffindor. Ten-ten, and this game is tight."

Sam sped back down the field amidst cheers from the crowd, a large, but fleeting grin on her face.

"McGinty takes it out. Oh, they've decided to pass, McGinty to Craig, back to Olds, Olds down the field—stopped by Yates! Yates takes it back towards the Slytherin goals—ugh!"

Paul Min, Slytherins beater in the same year as Jamie, had taken it upon himself to stop her—with his own bat. He had smashed into her arm, and she had dropped the Quaffle.

"Yeah that's a foul!!" Shouted Sirius above the booing crowd, "Since he can't hit the actual Bludger, Min decides to hit the player instead…you stupid git. Sorry, Professor, I mean, Min's nontraditional approach to beating earns him a debatable foul. Yeah, is that better? Quaffle taken downfield by Olds. Olds to Craig, who loops Moore, passes to McGinty, McGinty tries something fancy at the end, shot saved by Zimmerman! Nice little move there by Jonathan Zimmerman to save that one, and it's back out again!"

James tried his best to keep tabs on the game while keeping his eyes sharp for the Snitch. Sirius' colorful, if not completely biased, approach to commentating was doing a fair job of keeping him informed while he circled the field systematically.

Finally, it was McGinty that scored again, earning himself a round of curse words from the stand, much to the delight of Sirius, who couldn't fairly swear while commentating. The next possession, however, Veronica took it down the field with Jamie and Sam, and, in a very complex run, scored easily.

"Ha! Uwate looks like he's played for about a minute with that last run from the Gryffindor Chasers. Beautiful sequence there, just wonderful. Twenty-twenty, and this one is going to be won by the snitch," Sirius added, and James felt hundreds of eyes turn his way. Across the pitch he saw Rupert Wellings, a blonde fifth year, looking over the field for the same Snitch that he was looking for.

"Uwate back out to McGinty, dodges the last scorer, Moore, passes to—oh! Intercepted by Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky takes it back up the field and it's just her and Uwate. Curve ball and Tchaikovsky scores! Thirty-twenty, Gryffindor pulls ahead—oh. Tight dodge there as Inning smacks a Bludger at the back of Tchaikovsky's head. She doesn't look to worried though, seen that one too many times, eh?"

Sam spared Sirius a look, at which he laughed.

"That's right, Inning, if you can't beat the opposition, killing them is second best," Sirius began, and Inning flashed the box a very nasty sign, "Oh, temperamental. Was that to me? Or the headmaster, there Inning?" Sirius inquired smartly. But James had seen enough. Up at the zenith of the stadium was the unmistakable glint of the golden snitch. It zoomed off, and James gave chase, "Potter's seen something, the snitch! The snitch has been spotted, and Min's on Potter's tail. This is it! Who has it?" Sirius rambled excitedly as James chased after the little golden ball that had been his nemesis for so many years. He just had to catch it one more time.

Behind the tiny flurry of wings, James looped through the goalposts, skimmed the crowd, back up into the air. It was at the point that the snitch pulled a very tight loop that he wondered if it had been bewitched to be extraordinarily quick just for the entertainment of the game, but it hardly mattered. It was right there. He went into a spectacular dive and stretched his arm out—

His fingers closed around the tiny, warm ball just as he made contact with the ground. He did three very neat tumbles and landed on his feet, his hand extended, the Golden Snitch safely in his grasp.

The stands exploded in a mammoth shout as the Quidditch House Cup was won by Gryffindor house. James felt his face split into a grin as his team landed around him, smacking his back, cheering, all infected by what felt like a very good disease.

"That's it!" Sirius shouted above the crowd, "Despite the worst efforts of the beloved Slytherin team, the GRYFFINDOR'S come away with the cup!!!"

It was real. It was more than real, it was happening. James saw through the throng of his teammates to view Professor Dumbledore with McGonagall in tow, carrying the cup towards them. Dumbledore handed it to McGonagall, who looked thoroughly overwhelmed.

"This is for you," she said, holding the cup aloft with surprising ease, "Mr. Potter, Misses Tchaikovsky and Moore, you three, before you leave this school, you have given me a very great honor. Your Quidditch Cup," she handed it to James, who took it in both hands and kissed the gilded side panel then held it up.

"Let it go," demanded Veronica, looking completely overcome with joy, and James saw with slight alarm that she was crying. He handed it to her, and she too kissed the spot where the name GRYFFINDOR was magically engraved. She handed it to Sam who followed suit and kissed the side, passed it on down the line until finally Zimmerman was left with the cup, holding it up in the air, shouting a string of words so overgrown with his brogue that no one could really tell if they were compliments or exclamations or swears, but it didn't matter.

James turned around and saw Lily, beautiful Lily, running at him, Sirius and Lupin in tow. James caught her and twirled her around.

"You did it!" she shouted, "You caught it, you were brilliant," she said exultantly and kissed him so hard that his own breath was knocked out of him.

"Miss Evans, I must ask you not to suffocate my seeker," McGonagall said primly over the crowd and Lily broke away, very red.

"Sorry, Professor," she said, sounding as though she were a small child who had just been caught sneaking some type of candy she wasn't allowed. James threaded his arm tightly around her waist and kept her next to him.

"You wanna see the cup?" he asked her, taking it from Zimmerman who was still in possession of it.

"Oh, okay," Lily said, looking flustered as James handed her the trophy, "You have to kiss it," he told her, "That's good luck."

"Alright," Lily said, looking unsure, which was to say, absolutely adorable as she kissed the cup, and James was fairly sure she had never been more beautiful to him in his life.

"My turn, Evans," Sirius said, taking the cup for himself and kissing it heartily, "We did it Prongsie!" he said, looking thrilled as he grabbed Sam's arm. She turned and smiled at him, stuck out her hand and Sirius shook it, laughing, in an interaction that James really didn't understand. Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her into him for another large hug, and James saw his hand resting precariously right above Sam's ass. Sirius winked at James, who couldn't help smiling.

"We did," said James, sweeping Lily into another embrace.

"Didn't I tell you we'd be needing these?" Sam asked, grinning as she and Sirius produced a huge tub of Butterbeers.

"So you did," James said, grabbing one and handing it to Lily before taking one for himself, "So you did, Nutcracker."

It was seven o'clock and right after dinner, and the Victory Party was just getting underway. Every Gryffindor had found a place in the common room, some on the stairs, some in the furthest corners, but they were all here, all grinning. In the centre of the room, which was more around the roaring fire, the team, higher classmen and their friends, the age decreasing as the circle of firelight moved out. The entire room was illuminated with lamps turned up to full shining power so that it was actually very bright.

Everyone had changed out of their robes and were in outfits only slightly less impressive than those they wore to the Slug Club meets. Sam had on jeans and a flowy, lacy gold top with long, lacy sleeves and shiny buttons up the front, which were unbuttoned to show her golden camisole. Lily had chosen gold as well, in the form of a tight gold dress over black leggings. Everyone else had red or gold on, Sirius was looking absolutely crush-worthy (hardly friend-worthy) in a red button- up like most of the boys were wearing ,but something about how he was wearing it made Sam feel like she needed another butterbeer.

"Right, EVERYONE!!" James stood up on a chair, the Cup in his hands to attract attention, "Right, little ones to bed at eight. No complaining! The head boy and girl have spoken!" he added, and Lily buried her face in her hands. Sam saw she was laughing, "That said, you lot may have the cup first!" he tossed the trophy into the group of smallest children, who caught it in a knot of hands, all looking at James as if he may have been the god they heard about in church.

"That's terrible," Lily chided him as he sat back down.

"What's terrible is that you aren't sitting with me," James said, pulling her on top of him, "Much better," he said greedily as Lily landed on him. She spluttered and pushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Oh is it?"

"It is," James responded, kissing her softly. Sam smiled and grabbed a butterbeer and stood on one of the arms of the chair.

"Oi!" she shouted. Some people in the proximity heard her and looked up. Everyone continued talking.

"Shut it gits!" Sirius bellowed, "Tchaikovsky has something to say!" Silence ensued, and he looked calmly up at Sam, "Go ahead," he added, looking at her.

"Right, well, a toast!" she said, raising her bottle, and there was an audible scramble to grab bottles and glasses, "To the noblest house of Godric Gryffindor! Quidditch victors!"

"Here here!" Sirius said, taking a swig and grabbing her waist. She stumbled against him as she temporarily lost her balance. She regained it laughing.

"Cheers!" she shouted and everyone echoed it. Bottled clanged and then there was an intermittent silence in which everyone took a swig of the toasted drink, "I can't believe we really won it," she said, freeing herself from Sirius' arms and sitting down to face her friends.

"You'd best start," said Sirius, looking at her and nodding, "It happened."

"Yeah," said James, still looking dazed.

"You know, Sam, I don't mean to take credit for anything, but I was the one who suggested you try out for the team," Sirius said, "Remember?"

"That's a bit of a stretch," commented Sam, surveying him safely over her bottle, "You may have mentioned it."

"I can get no credit with you," Sirius complained looking to James for help, "Did I or did I not suggest she try out?"

"You did," James nodded.

"True," Lily echoed.

"Fine. You suggested it. So?"

"So I think I get something in thanks," said Sirius, eyes wide but there was a mischievous glint in them.

"Thanks," she said carefully.

"Alright now, legitimate thanks, not any of this bitter 'thanks'," he mimicked her voice.

"Kiss," suggested Lily, and Sam looked at her wide-eyed. She hadn't told Lily about snogging Sirius in the common room the night she had found out that Mr. and Mrs. Evans had died, but she had never thought Lily would suggest something like this.

"Yeah," encouraged James, "That's really the only way to say thank you."

"How about I say spasibo," Sam offered, "and you say dobro pazhalovat."

"I say what?" Sirius demanded, looking worried.

"Dobro Paz-halo- vat."

"Oh, that's much easier than just kissing him. Nutcracker?" James asked, "Look at him."

Sam did so. He had on some sort of stupid face that she supposed he was under the impression made him look accessible or sad or something. Before she could decide against it, she leaned in quickly and kissed him easily on the mouth.

"Thank you," she said, her face close to his as cheers went up from anyone who had witnessed the episode.

"You're welcome," Sirius told her, and she felt his hand travel up her torso to her neck, as if he were going to pull her in again.

"For being such a good friend," she added in a voice she was positive only he could hear. His eyes registered what she meant and he let go of her so that they were sitting upright and rather alone. She was left with the thought that she really, really hated this new 'friend' business.

"So dobro pazhalovat?" Sirius repeated, looking at her sideways.

"Yup," Sam responded, looking down at the carpet, which suddenly seemed inescapably interesting.

"So that means I know three Russian words," Sirius said with only a hint of bragging in his tone, "Otlichna, precrastna, and dobro pazhalovat."

"You can count the last one as a phrase," Sam said, sneaking a glance at him.

"You hear that, Prongsie? Two words and a phrase!" Sirius said happily.

"Yeah, you're all ready to go back to the homeland," James said sarcastically as he played with Lily's hair.

"You're right," said Sirius, dropping his joy to look very business-like, "What else can you teach me?"

"What else do you want to know?" Sam asked, feeling that it was safe to look up now.

"Um, how do you say 'girl?'"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Devushka."

"Alright. Devushka. How about 'how you doing'?" he asked, adding the head not for effect.

"Um, let's see…" she debated with herself while she translated mentally, "kak vy deleate."

"Alright so—oh! And hello, I guess you need."

"Privet." She answered, looking amused.

"Alright so. Privet Devushka. Kak vy…?" he looked over at her.

"Deleate."

"Privet Devushka. Kak vy deleate." Sirius repeated, with a terrible accent.

"Yeah, that'll do," Sam took a swig of butterbeer so he wouldn't see her cringe and laugh.

"Hold this conversation," ordered James, standing up, "All fourth years and younger, to bed!" he announced, all of the third and fourth years turned to glare at James. But he was their hero after all, and they stalked off to their dormitories, some of them taking the party with them in the form of iced butterbeer.

"There we are," James said as the room was considerably cleared out. Most fifth years went up to their dormitories as well, seeing no real want to remain with the sixth and seventh years. Now only a dozen people remained in the room, many sixth year couples including Jamie and Remus, sneaked out into the halls for some privacy and the four of them were left alone near the fire.

"Accio," James added, and the cup that lay abandoned on the floor flew towards him. He caught it in midair and set it next to them, looking at it fondly, "Go ahead, I was enjoying seeing Sirius get schooled in Russian."

"I was not being schooled," said Sirius, "I could pick up some Russian girls, couldn't I, Sam? My friend?" he added looking at her harmlessly and she narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"Of course you could," she said.

"See."

"I see Nutcracker looking pretty ticked at you right now," said James, "If that's what I'm supposed to be seeing."

"And, I'm sorry Sirius, but I've been to Sam's house and your Russian is strashno." Lily said and Sam turned a brilliant smile and hi-fived her.

"Hey now, what does that mean?" Sirius implored, "It sure didn't sound like otlichna."

"That's because strashno is terrible, brain child," said Sam, more than pretty ticked. It was Sirius, after all, who had come up with this ridiculous friend idea. She had agreed to it, but still…

"Ah, well," Sirius looked rather disappointed.

"Yes, well done, 'brain child'," James looked amusedly between them. Sam saw Lily shake her head as if she and Sirius were two irritable children, which, sometimes, they may appear to be.

"Let's hear yours," Sirius challenged.

"Yeah, I'll stick to English, thanks," James said smartly, "You'd do well to take that example," he said, standing up and patting Sirius on the shoulder. Then James reached down and took Lily's hand, "Now if it's okay with you, we're going to take the dormitory for a while," James said, raising his eyebrows as he pulled Lily behind him up to the boy's dormitory.

"Yeah, enjoy the celebration," called Sirius behind them. James turned around long enough to give them both a roguish wink, then closed the door behind them.

"I'm not really that bad, am I?" Sirius asked, sitting next to her.

"Well, you weren't wonderful," she admitted.

"Sorry."

"You don't have to speak Russian."

"Are you going to marry some Russian guy, Tchaikovsky?" he asked, looking at her.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, buddy," Sirius added the last part.

"You're speaking like a stupid git, you are," said Sam, pushing him in the shoulder.

"Of course," Sirius threw his hands in the air, "I can do no right, can I?"

"It wouldn't appear so," said Sam, her mouth twitching up into a smile, "pal."

"Oh, now we're pals, are we?"

Sam threw her own hands in the air, "Yes. We've been friends, pals I mean, since this morning, love, when you made it so apparent that you wanted us to be friends."

They sat for a moment in the quiet, both staring at the fire that was continually dancing.

"This isn't working out, huh?"

"Friends? Nah, I don't think we're meant to be friends."

"Yeah, I wasn't really seeing it either. We couldn't even last twenty-four hours." Sirius said.

"What was your biggest hint, Sherlock?" Sam asked.

"Well, when you kissed me to say thank you?"

"Yeah," she responded carefully.

"I never really got to say you're welcome like I wanted," Sirius said, as though he were admitting to a horrendous sin.

"Oh?" she looked at him, surprised, "And why was that?"

"Because we are, were, friends."

"I'm not sure I follow," she said.

"Well, I wanted to do something different to say you're welcome. I don't know what you do in Russia, but the way I was raised…"

"Well, we aren't friends anymore, so go ahead," she said, spreading her arms out for a vulnerable look, "Lay it on me."

Sirius winced.

"Oh my god, just tell me," Sam begged, leaning forward.

"It isn't really something you tell," Sirius seemed uncharacteristically nervous, beating around the bush, "More of something you do…"

"Just do me—" she said without thinking. She winced now, "You set that up, didn't you?" she asked, surveying him. He broke his nervous charade and grinned.

"Yeah, I did. Pretty, good, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, hilarious. Hey, well, I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to hit the sack, 'k?"

"Alright. Sure you don't want me to 'do yo—' no, never mind," he decided as she turned to look at him.

"Yeah, good call."

" Nice playing today," he added, grabbing her hand. She froze and looked down at their intertwined hands. She didn't want to let go.

"Thank you. I have to admit that your commentary made my season a lot better, so thanks."

"How do we show thanks?" Sirius inquired, looking up at her. Sam sighed heavily, placed her hands on the arm of the couch, leaned over and kissed him again. It was a small kiss, just like the last one, but the sparks she felt fly were unable to be ignored.

"You're welcome," he said.

"How do you show that I really am welcome?" Sam asked, tipping her head to the side. He grabbed her arms, she lost her balance and tipped over the side of the couch so that she was on top of him. He took her face with his hands and kissed her with what she thoroughly expected to be all of his persuasion, which was quite a bit. Doing her best to ignore the thoughts that were screaming at her to do otherwise, she put her hands against his chest and pushed him away.

"I can't do this every week," she said, "kiss you, and feel the way that I do and wait for you to ask me out, ask me anything, and have you make some sort of…of comment instead, and then have you kiss me again."

"What do you want?" he asked her.

"I—I don't want you to, to not kiss me if you don't really feel anything—"

He cut her off mid-sentence with a particularly snoggish kiss. She pushed him away.

"Sirius, I'm—"

"What, serious?" he asked, a smile playing on his mouth though his eyes seemed almost sad.

"Yes," she insisted.

"Samantha Tchaikovsky," he said, looking up at her with what were absolutely the most beautiful and sincere eyes she had ever had the good fortune of seeing, "I have thought you were so beautiful for so long. And I also thought that you were sort of unreachable, like something I could never really have. Maybe that was because you were so pretty or so smart or so absolutely, unbelievably incredible, but that's what it was. And now I've seen and heard that you'd have me, so I really am trying everything I can to get you to be mine. But right now, you're still that untouchable girl."

"All I really wanted you to do was ask me out," Sam's voice was small after his modest speech. She had the distinct feeling that this wasn't the kind of conversation you should have whilst laying on top of the boy with whom you were conversing. Maybe another boy, but not the same one.

"I guess I really didn't think that I needed to," he said simply, "but if you want me to, then Sam, will you please go out with me sometime?"

"Where?" she asked in a small voice, "I'm busy next weekend."

"Jesus Christ, woman," Sirius said in a completely different voice. It was unmistakably hurt.

"No, listen," Sam pushed him back down so that they were still in the same position, "I would love to go out with you sometime."

They were quiet for a moment, both staring at each other. Sam didn't blink, thinking that that course of action was probably safest.

"Now can I kiss you?" he demanded, but didn't wait for an answer. Her mouth was on his, his hands on her back, gluing her to him, at least for now, his tongue pressing at her lips. Her hands worked their way to his shirt and unbuttoned the first, second, third, fourth…she lost count, but his shirt was off, her hands were on his chest, roaming over the muscles that had caused her so much distraction.

She felt his hands start to undo the buttons of her shirt. It was only fair, wasn't it? His shirt was off now, thanks to her own hand. And she still had her camisole, and beneath that her bra…she sat up and pulled the shirt and camisole off in a surprisingly fluid motion. Sirius looked up at her as though she were something completely earth real that he had thought he would never have the chance to see.

"Precrastna," he said, grinning, in a voice that was completely devoid of terrible accent or mocking inflection, and she bent over to kiss him again. And again.