"James set fire to the library?" Ginny blurted out.
"He blamed it on someone else?" Harry exclaimed.
"You got an A?" Hermione said. Looking at each other, Hermione's cheeks reddened a bit, as she'd obviously focused on the wrong part of the revelation.
"Crap." James sighed, sitting down again and finishing his fourth glass of the bubbly drink.
"I don't believe it." Ginny hissed, looking beside herself with anger and frustration.
"Here goes…" James murmured, leaning back in his chair.
Apart from the fact that James was sulking the rest of the night, it was a really nice party. At around two a.m. people started filing out through the door, saying their goodnights and heading up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire. Lily stayed with Rose and Hugo until almost three o'clock, when Hermione said:
"Right, bed, all of you." Hugo groaned, making the girls snigger, but no one complained. They said goodnight to the remaining family members and then stalked out of the room together, up the stairs where Lily and Rose parted with Rose's younger brother.
"I am absolutely exhausted." She sighed and flung herself on to the bed, which creaked threateningly under her weight.
"You and me both." Lily replied, but decided to at least get changed before she got into bed. If she as much as placed a hand on the soft and cool covers, she was certain she'd collapse and start snoring instantly. While changing, she watched her cousin. Rose had already fallen asleep, even though she was still in her pretty black dress, her hair in a loose knot and her face beautifully made up. Lily smiled slightly at this. Rose didn't look much like either of her parents, but had small features from which you could really see the family resemblance: her hair colour was a reddish brown, a perfect mix of her parents'. Its shape and context, however, was altogether Hermione; bushy and slightly curly. Her eyes had the exact same colour as her mother's, but her tall and lean body was obviously inherited from Ron. Lily giggled, and then slid in under the duvet, sighing deeply when the weight was off her feet. It took literally three seconds before she fell asleep.
HP The Potters HP
The week that followed the celebration of New Year was a lovely one indeed. The snow still lay thickly on the ground, but the sun shone and offered perfect weather for some Quidditch. The last day before they would all go back to Hogwarts and work was a sad and happy one, and they decided to have a final game of Quidditch before they needed to head inside for the night. Standing outside the house, on the small path that had magically been shifted free from snow by George, were the Potter siblings, Rose, Hugo, Louis, Molly, Roxanne, Dominique, Victoire, Teddy and Fred.
"Right," Teddy started, taking charge as he was the oldest in the group. "We're only twelve, so we'll play with only one beater in each team. I know not all of you are or have been on school teams, but I'm sure everyone here has a position they'd prefer to play." James played keeper on the Gryffindor team, Louis and Hugo were both beaters and Rose and Albus were chasers. Lily had never thought of trying out for the team, but after having played the game every day for about a week, she realised she loved it, and considered trying out for the team when she started her fifth year.
"Now, we'll need six chasers, so who wants to have those positions?" Rose's hand shot into the air, along with Molly's, Fred's, Victoire's and Albus'. "Oh come on, one more." Teddy said grinning at them. Sighing, Roxanne raised her hand slowly into the cold air. "Perfect. Let's see… First team chasers; Rose, Molly and Roxanne. And then Fred, Albus and Victoire in the next one." They parted. The lovely thing about these family games were that no one cared about which team they were placed in: it was a fun game, and whoever you were put with you immediately became loyal to.
"Now, beaters." Louis and Hugo grinned widely at Teddy, who rolled his eyes jokingly. "Of course. Hugo, you go to Rose's team, Louis, you're with Fred and the gang." They high-fived and then left for their respective teams. Remaining without positions were now Teddy himself, Lily, James and Dominique.
"Well, I used to play keeper, and I'd like to keep that position." Dominique said firmly, folding her arms and smiling a small smile.
"Fine by me." James said. "I play keeper too, and will do that now." Dominique headed over to Louis' team and James walked up to Rose and Molly.
"Well then." Teddy said, smirking. "That leaves us to be seekers then. Go on, pick your team." Lily thought about this for a few moments. Rose was a fantastic chaser, of course, and the team captain of Gryffindor (to James' huge dismay). Roxanne, too, was fantastic even though she'd never played during her school years. On the other hand, Louis was really a better beater than Hugo and Albus was probably the fastest of them all on his broomstick (a Firebolt X he'd received for his fifteenth birthday).
"Second. I'm staying with Al." Her brother beamed at her as she joined them, her Nimbus 3000 over her shoulder. Another lovely gift from her father, which was really silly because she wasn't even on the team. Well, maybe that'd change… And in any case, if you had a former seeker as your Dad, that was what you got.
"Perfect. Now let's go." They all mounted their brooms and flew (close to the ground as to not be seen by any muggles in the nearby villages) towards the enclosed field where they always played. Three wooden hoops had been put up a couple of years ago, and it actually did look like a real pitch now (although quite a bit smaller than the amazing one at school). When they emerged from the trees, they spread around in the air, James and Dominique flying straight to the hoops.
"Damn." Teddy said suddenly.
"What?"
"Forgot the balls. And besides, we don't have anyone to keep track of the score." There was a united groan, making Teddy's hair turn a fierce red.
"Oh shut it, all of you. I'll be right back. We might even get a bit of a crowd." He zoomed away and was gone before anyone else could say anything.
"Lovely. So we now have to sit on these uncomfortable things and wait for him." Hugo whined, shifting his weight on the wooden broom.
"Stop whinging." Fred said calmly, and started to swish around in a circle. "You're free to stand in the three feet deep snow if you like." They all tittered and this, and Hugo turned his head down, muttering to himself. It only took two or three minutes before they heard Teddy reappear, a big box hanging off the end of his broom. Closely behind followed Harry, Ron and George, all former Quidditch players, they too on brooms.
"Hermione, Ginny, Angelina, Bill and Fleur are coming in a minute too, but we can start while we wait." Before the adults lowered themselves to the ground, their wands were out and quickly melting away the snow that covered the long bench placed on one side of the field. On it they sat down, George bringing out a piece of parchment and a pen on which he'd write the scores.
"I take it you don't need a commentator." Ron grinned at the kids.
"Not really." Victoire replied seriously. Just then, the rest of the people who'd promised they'd come arrived, although on foot. Hermione was walking first, melting away the snow as she walked, and making a perfectly straight path for them all to walk on. Once they too were seated, Ron stood up and grabbed the box from Teddy. The latter then flew up and joined the circle of players.
"Right then, you moody bunch of kids, here goes." Ron said cheerfully, and opened the box. Two Bludgers shot out and started circulating in the field, a golden snitch closely following. Lily kept her eyes on the small, glittering ball for a few moments before she lost track of it. The Quaffle was thrown into the air, and the game began. Lily wasn't sure how, but everyone in her family had some sort of talent for the sport. It must have had to do with the genes or something, because there was simply no other explanation. In her opinion, their family games were ten times as exciting as the majority of the games played at Hogwarts every year. Playing in their own field, they needed to be a bit more careful, but concerns were often wafted away by none other than Hermione.
"I've put about six different Muggle repelling charms around this place. Now snap out of it and play, for Merlin's sake!" were her exact words.
The game was now in full swing, and the Quaffle currently possessed by Albus, of course. Holding it firmly in place under his right arm, he shot towards the goal posts, guarded by his older brother. James had a mischievous smile on his lips, but this didn't put Al off at all. Lily, however, wasn't really paying close attention to this. Her eyes were scanning the grounds for the little flying ball, while she also kept half an eye out for any of the Bludgers. So far, she'd never been hit by one, and would prefer it if she wasn't in the near future. In the corner of her eye she saw James swiftly catching the Quaffle and immediately passing it over to Rose. The latter was already half way across the pitch when Louis aimed a shot and set a Bludger her way. Before it reached her, though, she quickly passed the ball to Roxanne who took over as the front of Rose's broom was ripped off by the violent thing. Thankfully, this didn't affect the flying, and Rose continued to play.
There was a lot of flying back and forth, and just as Molly made the score 60-40 to her team, Lily caught sight of the Snitch, hovering around Hugo's head. Now, Teddy was closer to it, but looking in the opposite direction. The difficulty was rather that Hugo would see her approaching and could easily find a Bludger to send her way. She decided to fly below him, her eyes on the ground until she got closer. When this thought was complete, she flew into action, moving in a hesitant way forward, hoping it looked rather like she was looking for the Snitch than actually heading for it. Bloody hell, I hope Teddy doesn't see it. She dared a glance at him, but he was now far away, flying in a circle around his goal posts. Sooner than wanted, she was one or two metres from her cousin, who seemed oblivious to her presence. The moment he turned his broom, she forced herself up, her hand stretched out. Naturally, this caught quite some attention. Hugo spun around, looking wildly around, waving his bat at Teddy. The currently green headed young man lay down flat on his broom and swerved towards them. Of course, the Snitch was suddenly moving rapidly away from them, but Lily had a head start. Her broom wasn't as good or as new as Teddy's, but still a lot faster. Her hand still stretched out in front of her, she carried on, eyes glued to the shimmering spot in front of her. Come on, just a little faster, she urged, hearing both Teddy behind her, and the flutter of wings in front of her. Glancing back, she noticed Teddy was just a few feet behind her, his eyes black with concentration, his green hair tugged back by the wind. Just a bit further… She scooted forward on her broom, placing herself on the very tip of the wood. Damn, this is scary, she thought fleetingly, before her hand closed around the struggling ball and her broom dashed into a thick tree. An oak, she realised before everything turned black and the noise faded away into nothing.
"Up the wooden hill to Befordshire"? I don't know what made me write that, but yeah...
It didn't really go as I'd planned in the end, but I think it's alright c:
The actual chapter might not be as fun as the previous one, but I'm happy with it xD
And now I'm actually beginning to wonder if I'm going to stop this one and start a sequel at the end of Lily's fourth year, or write her fifth one as well... We'll just have to see. Depends on... Imagination and reviews ;)
Thanks for reading!
M xx