Moments

I don't own anything in the HP universe

Chapter 24:

We shouldn't have stopped by Mia's after we looked at the house. Mia was more than happy to welcome Ali and me. She congratulated us on the marriage and the pregnancy. It was hardly a secret any more, with it being all over Hogwarts and Ali was starting to show. Mia gave us a pizza free of charge and she was happy to talk to us about all of our plans and our future. It was nice, harmless, or so I thought.

I never expected a picture of me and Ali to end up on the front page of the Prophet under the headline, Students Play Hooky at Hogwarts. It wasn't a good article. Apart from pointing out that it was a Tuesday and two students were seen clearly not in class it talked about the lack of security at the school saying it if was easy for students to break out it would be easy for people to break in. Then it went on to mention how the Hogwarts staff wasn't doing it's best to maintain student's safety or watching students much at all. It hit on the fact that Ali was pregnant and they wondered how many other students were having sex in school and if there are any other pregnant students. It talked about our marriage saying it was approved by the school and that they openly allowed fornication on their property. It mentioned how there were way more students than teachers and how it was easy for students to get overlooked, especially if the student happen to have famous parents.

Basically the paper was calling out everyone. McGonagall had received quite a few letters from angry parents wondering exactly what she was allowing to go on in the halls of her school.

Ali did not like being in the papers. They had painted her to look like some kind of Harlot. I was so writing to the editor of that damn paper. I thought they were no longer allowed to post gossip pieces about my family. I guess, since technically the article was about the lack of supervision going on at the school it wasn't about me, but still. I didn't like it.

"James focus" Lucy snapped her fingers in front of my face and I blinked.

"I'm focused" I lied. I looked to the rest of my teammates all of whom were looking at me waiting for orders. "Just because Hufflepuff got creamed by Ravenclaw doesn't mean this is going to be an easy match. Just remember what we practiced."

"For Gryffindor!" Roxy shouted.

"For Gryffindor!" the team echoed as we marched out onto the field.

"Captains shake hands."

As I held my hand out to Shane Conner I remember this was the pedophile who asked out my fourteen year old sister. I gave his hand a super tight squeeze as I stared him down.

The whistle was blown, we mounted our brooms, the ball was tossed into the air. Okay let the games begin.

I'll admit I was more than a little pissed. I was mad at the reporter. Mad at the stupid photographer. Mad there was nothing we could do about it. Mad that people couldn't mind their own business. Mad that Ali was upset. It seemed like the article did more to rile up rumors about her. It was beyond frustrating.

I couldn't think about any of that now though. Now I had to focus.

"Showing off for the scouts?" Lucy asked after I scored my fifth straight goal.

Shit, right. I'm supposed to be passing the ball. Scouts don't want someone who isn't a team player. I need to get my head in the game. Show my leadership skills. Focus.

"Sorry" I called back.

I'll be better at it. Or I'll try. My head is just in the clouds today. I don't even know the score. Isn't that messed up. Okay, time to turn the focus on.

The score was 80-60, our favor. This still wasn't the kind of lead I wanted. I had to admit to myself that I had been more than distracted lately. I hadn't been putting much time into the team as I normally would and there were three new people on the team, not including the fact that one member switched positions.

Hugo was doing a great job at beater, wish I could say the same about Jace at keeper. Colin was fitting in well in the game, he scored the three goals I didn't score.

I signaled a quick change in formations. The game heated up a bit. Lucy scored a couple of goals. Jace managed to block a couple of goals. The highlight came when Roxy took out their seeker. Hufflepuffs called a time out. Lorelai stayed in the air looking for the snitch. I grouped together with the chasers and we talked about a new formation. The score was 110-70. With their seeker injured, it raised our chances. Still that didn't mean we let our guard down. Lorelai took to feinting. She knew their seeker would try to be careful so he didn't aggravate his injury.

Meanwhile I was doing better at passing the ball. Lucy was good at recovering the ball. Colin was maybe showing off a bit, being flashy. He was a second year, I'll allow it. When I was first made the team I showed off all the time. At least he wasn't riding his broom backwards. Yes, I've done that before. It was stupid but at the time I thought it made me look cool.

The score was 160-70 Lucy had the ball and she was going in for the score when all of a sudden a shout went up in the crowd. The snitch had been sighted. I stayed focused on the quaffle. Lucy scored. Hufflepuff rebounded the ball. I stayed tight to their player until I saw someone fall out of the sky. I sped forward on my broom and managed to catch Lorelai before she hit the ground. The game was over, we lost. 170-220. I couldn't believe it, this was like my first lost ever. What the hell happened?

"You were great" Oliver Wood told me after the match. "A little shaky at the start, but your form was good. The passing game between the chasers was good. I can see you put together a good team. And I hear that you often rotate between your practice squad and your actual squad. I wished I would've thought of that while I was still in school. if we lost a player, the game was basically done for."

"My dad said you were the best coach you ever had" I replied.

"And he was my best seeker. Don't tell Mason Cambridge I said that."

We both chuckled. Cambridge is the current seeker for Puddlemere and he's known as a kind of diva.

"You didn't hear this from me but Wright might be retiring at the end of this season. We're looking for new talent. You should think about trying out."

I damn near jumped for joy right there. Wright is the current center chaser. If he retires that means there is a position on the main team that's going to be open. It might go to a reserve player, but still. Now would be the perfect time to join a team.

"Keep up the good work and try not to be too hard on yourself. We can't win every single game."

"Thanks" I said shaking his hand. "I will."

When I went into the locker rooms to change I saw Lorelai in the showers trying to drown herself.

"Whoa," I cut off the water. "What are you doing? Are you crying?"

Lorelai sank to the ground. "I lost us the game" she sobbed.

"You did not lose us the game."

I had no idea what to do with crying girls. I sank down onto the floor next to her ignoring the wetness. "Don't cry. It's going to be okay."

"But Shane was injured and he still managed to catch the snitch over me."

"Conner, has been playing Quidditch for a lot longer. He was used to playing with injuries" I replied.

"I should have held on to my broom."

"It was your first time being hit by a bludger" I replied.

"Sansa got hit by a bludger at the last match and she still played."

I shook my head.

"Don't compare yourself to Sansa. She got hit in the back. Her injury is different. Speaking of which, we should probably get you to the infirmary."

"I don't want to go" she curled into me sobbing harder.

I froze for a moment. Merlin's hat this is so weird. I patted her back tentatively. Where was the rest of the team? Lucy was better at this kind of thing.

"You're going to kick me off the of the team aren't you?"

"What? No?"

"Jason didn't catch the snitch and you kicked him off the team."

"You have more potential than Summers" I replied.

"You kicked Sansa off the team for being injured."

"I didn't kick Sansa off the team for being injured. I replaced her with Colin because he was a more dedicated player. He was practicing more while she was slacking off."

"I'll do better next time."

"You're damn right you will. Now come on. We have to get changed, you need to get checked out at the infirmary, and then we can go have our pity party in the Gryffindor common room."

Ten minutes later I was leaving Lorelai in the infirmary. Madam Patil said that she might have a concussion and that she wanted to keep Lorelai in overnight just to be safe.

"Hey" Ali came to me as soon as I entered the common room. She hugged me tight and I let her, not really feeling in the mood to be comforted. "Are you okay?"

I pulled back a little. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"Oh" Ali said pulling away completely.

"I just need some time to myself. Analyze the game. What we did wrong? What we could do better? Stuff like that."

"I understand" she replied.

I don't think she did.

"I have a Charms essay I need to work on."

"Okay" she didn't even wait for me to finish the word before she turned around and walked away. I don't think this day could get any worse.