Author's Notes: My first AU drabble! Tumblr prompt was from Jess: "AU where James and Lily meet at Quidditch Camp."
Try to Keep Up
No one seemed to know where the redhead had come from, though speculation was running rampant among the ranks.
"France," one of the other Chaser recruits, Sav Hollis, had said, watching from the sidelines with the rest of them as the witch took to the sky. "Straight from school. Beauxbatons, I think."
"She's English," Moll Danner, a promising Beater James had played with at Hogwarts, argued. "I heard her talking with Coach. Definitely English."
"Doesn't mean she didn't school in France," James said, but watching her run her speed drills in the sky, her lithe body slanted over the broomstick with an ease anyone would admire, he reckoned one of them would have heard of her if she'd gotten her start on the school circuit. That's how these things usually played out. He'd pulled straight from Hogwarts to the minors two years before, and this trial with Appleby was not his first. He made a point of knowing his competitors, and this redhead hadn't even been on the radar.
But bloody Merlin, she was now.
Brilliant, was the word that came to mind as he watched her fly. Quick, agile, good positioning, and almost impossible speed. She had good instinct and an even better read of the pitch. She'd already caught the snitch twice, while the other contenders for the open Seeker position had barely made a single catch between them. James was infinitely glad they weren't competing for the same slot. He wasn't certain he could contend.
Gorgeous, he also decided, as Coach called the Seekers down from the sky and she landed with an easy drop of her feet to the ground. The Quidditch kit fit her like a second layer, and as she shook a few wisps of that fiery hair out of her face and slowly stripped off her gloves, James felt a pull in his chest, and then a pull lower.
She passed a few words with the coach as the Beaters took to the air, then moved towards the bench, where her bag lay. James met her there.
"Nice work up there," he said, grabbing a paper cup from the nearby water cooler and handing it over. "You're fast."
"Thanks." She took the cup gratefully and swallowed the contents in one gulp. Her face was red with wind and probably pride. She had the greenest eyes James had ever seen, and they regarded him speculatively. "You're James Potter," she said.
James blinked. "We've met?"
"No. I saw you play once, with Kenmare's minor team. You're not too slow yourself."
"On my better days, no." He grinned. "And you…?"
"Lily," she said, and thrust out her hand. "Lily Evans."
James's hand pumped hers. Her skin was warm, her fingers long. He didn't let go. "Nice to meet you, Lily. And best of luck. You're impressive."
"I know," she said, and with a smirk that seemed to light her face with a wicked brightness, she winked. "Try to keep up, yeah?"
James felt the grin straight to his toes. "Yeah, all right."
