Thanks for the reviews, Tyler'sPrincess and harrypotterfan. You guys are awesome!
Hello everyone, here is chapter thirty-five. Readers, please review. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All (well, most, anyway) characters are from J K Rowling's brilliant best-selling series.
Chapter Thirty-Five
"This is going to get ugly."
Lily dived aside to avoid the jet of red light. Balancing herself again, she yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Mulciber dodged the Disarming Charm. "Pathetic, Mudblood, you're going to have to do better than that!" he taunted, before yelling, "Magnaurus!"
Lily screamed as the hex hit her full in the face. She could feel her ears becoming bigger; panicking, she felt her right ear, which was now bigger than her head. "Oh, look – the elephant-eared Mudblood!" Mulciber sneered, and she could see Avery cackling next to him.
"What did you do that for, Mulciber?" Severus yelled from next to her. "Take the curse off her!"
But now, Avery had drawn his wand, too. "Ha ha – take this, Mudblood! Ictus!"
She screamed again as the Stinging Hex hit her. She could feel her face swelling up; she could barely see. Tears forming in her eyes, she focused on Mulciber, who was laughing and saying, "Nice one, mate!"
"Lily – you OK?" Severus was asking her, his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, come on – leave her alone!" he yelled at Mulciber and Avery, who seemed in no mood to heed to his words.
"Shut up, Snape – whose side are you on, anyway?" Mulciber shouted at him. "You should be joining us!"
"Don't you have better things to do than hex other people?" Severus shouted angrily, but they only laughed at him. "Come on, mate – this is fun!" Avery said gleefully.
That did it – her rage exploded. She hadn't known that she was capable of that kind of anger. Raising her wand, she yelled, "Lumos Intensum!"
The familiar flash of blinding light was enough to distract them, and seizing the opportunity, she screamed, "Globus Ignis!" It was the incantation of the Fire Spurt spell that she remembered from one of their DADA homework assignments. Professor Malfoy hadn't allowed them to try it in class, citing the fact that it was a lot more dangerous than the other Elemental Spurt spells. Immediately after casting it for the first time, she understood why.
"My robes!" yelled Mulciber as his robes caught fire. In a panic, he threw himself on the ground and began to roll and thrash desperately, trying to put out the flames. Avery gnashed his teeth and raised his wand; pointing it at her, he yelled, "Pulsum!" The Pushing Jinx threw her off balance, and she fell to her knees – defenceless, she prepared herself for his next jinx.
"Lil – no!" Severus yelled, and tried to help her up; at that very moment, she heard a familiar voice yell, "Stupefy!" She looked up and squinted just enough to see Avery crumple to the ground, next to the still-rolling Mulciber. Shrugging off Severus's helping hand, she staggered to her feet and looked around to see her saviour – to her astonishment, it was none other than James Potter, running as fast as he could; there was a pretty girl with reddish-brown hair right at his heels.
"Get away from her!" Potter yelled, pointing his wand at Severus, who seemed to be frozen. "You have two seconds to go and help your filthy little friends – or else you're going to join them on the ground! Think fast, Snivellus!"
"No way!" Severus yelled, and whipped out his wand. "I'm not going anywhere!"
But he didn't get very far. "Wrong choice, dolt," Potter sneered, before yelling, "Vespertilio Spiritum!" Severus screamed in pain as several bat-like bogeys attacked him, all over his face. He took a step back, tripped over his own feet, and fell to the ground.
"Severus!" she shouted just as Potter came up to her. "You OK?" he asked her, a little harshly.
"You moron – why did you hex Sev?" she snapped at him, and even through her rather limited eyesight, she could tell that he was taken aback. "What do you mean – they were all attacking you, weren't they?" he asked her, his voice rough.
"No! Severus was on my side, idiot!" she shouted.
To her surprise, Potter ignored her. Turning around, he said, "I'm sorry, Rachel – but Lily here needs my help. Could you – please – call someone – a sixth- or seventh- year, perhaps, to take these scum –" she shuddered as she heard the contempt in his voice, "—to the Hospital Wing? I promise that I'll be back as soon as possible."
The girl must have obeyed, because a second later, Lily heard hurried footsteps moving away from them. Potter helped her to her feet. "Come on – we're going to the Hospital Wing," he said. Not exactly in a state to resist, she sighed and let herself be shepherded along the street. They walked back together, with Potter guiding her occasionally – she refused his support, however, preferring to walk on her own instead.
"You shouldn't have attacked Sev," she blurted out as they entered the Hogwarts grounds.
"Oh, yeah?" he countered, and though she couldn't see his face, she heard the derision in his voice. "From where I was standing, Evans, it looked like those slimy Slytherins had you outnumbered three to one! How was I supposed to know whose side who was on?"
"Because he's my friend!" she yelled, and let out an exclamation as her face burnt with pain.
"Is it hurting?" Potter asked her with concern.
"No, I like having this overblown face," she replied tetchily, before forcing herself to think straight. As much as she hated the fact that Potter had jinxed Severus, he had helped her out – and by the looks of it, he'd even cut his date short – just to take her to the Hospital Wing. She felt ashamed at once – here he was, trying to help her, and her attitude wasn't helping at all.
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "It's just that – well, my face hurts, my ears are huge, and – I just got attacked for, well – for my parentage." Tears she'd been holding back filled her eyes as she spoke. Why were people so cruel as to insult her parents?
"If it's any consolation, Evans," began Potter, and she turned to face him; despite her poor eyesight she could still make out the twinkle in his eyes. "You're loads better at magic than any Slytherin pureblood I've ever seen," he added.
She snorted and said, "That's not saying much, Potter – considering that they're dunderheads in the first place." But she felt a faint blush on her cheeks as she spoke; Potter had just paid her a sincere compliment.
Potter chuckled. "As much as it pains me to admit, Evans – that's only true for the gits in our year. The older Slytherins are pretty good at magic – Dark Magic, in fact," he added ominously.
"How did you find me?" she asked him.
"Well – you weren't really too difficult to find, considering that you were in an alley just off the Main Street," he replied dryly, and she smiled faintly. "Rachel and I – we were just walking for lunch towards the Three Broomsticks when I saw you go down –"
"How did you know it was me?" she interrupted curiously. He grinned.
"You're not exactly hard to make out at a distance, Evans – your hair may not glow in the dark, but in the sunlight – well, that's another story!" he said light-heartedly. "Anyway – I immediately rushed over to help – though I must say, you were doing quite well on your own!"
She rolled her eyes; it was difficult, considering that any movement of her face caused her pain. Ignoring her uselessly-flapping ears, she said, "I got hit and went down, didn't I?"
"Yeah – but you used a spell we haven't been taught, Evans," he said, a little proudly. "That fireball – it was incredible! I've tried doing that but I've had trouble creating a fireball bigger than my palm – but that one, that one was enormous! It burnt through Mulciber's robes like they were –"
"Parchment?" she suggested with amusement.
"I was going to go with firewood – but sure, parchment it is," he returned, laughing. She felt herself smiling, too – his laughter was infectious.
She fell silent, pensive. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she'd turned him down, saying a few nasty things in the process… Oh, they were true, but that didn't make them any less nasty. And yet, he'd come to her aid at once. Well, he had hexed Severus in the process, infuriating her – but here he was, helping her out, conversing with her normally… She shook her head slightly. Her anger with him hexing Sev had almost evaporated – but that was mainly because while Severus had tried to stop his friends from attacking her, he hadn't raised his wand to defend her…
And Potter had…
"Here we are," Potter announced, and they entered the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey took one look at her and said with concern, "Stinging Hex – and what's that, an Ear Enlargement Hex? Miss Evans – it's a wonder you're up and walking about so calmly!" She put Lily into bed at once, and performed the counter-curses; within five minutes, her face returned to its normal state.
"Thanks, Madam Pomfrey," she smiled at the Matron, who nodded solemnly. Potter, who had been waiting near the entrance, grinned at her cockily. "Wow – you looked prettier with the big elephant ears!"
She narrowed her eyes at him with mock anger and said, "Watch it, Potter – or Mulciber wouldn't be the only one who ends up with a burnt backside!" Potter gave a hoot of laughter at that as they walked out of the Hospital Wing together.
Not particularly inclined to go back to Hogsmeade, she asked him, "D'you want to go for lunch, Potter?"
The lopsided grin was back as he said, "Well, if you're asking me out after that heroic rescue, couldn't you just have said 'yes' yesterday and made this a lot easier?"
She smacked him on the head and he exclaimed, "Ouch!"
"I meant the Great Hall, you prat!" she said with a touch of asperity. Rubbing his head, he grinned and said, "I'm heading back to Hogsmeade – Rachel's there, waiting for me."
"Right," she said, a little awkwardly. "Er – thanks, Potter," she added gratefully, and his grin grew wider. "Anytime, Evans," he said, mock-bowing to her before beginning to walk away. Just before turning the corner, however, he stopped. Facing her, he said, "You might want to ask your 'friend' – why he didn't step in to help you during that little skirmish. He says he's got a problem with two against one – but he didn't do anything about it when you were in his situation, did he? The hypocrite!"
Irritated, she said, "That's none of your business, Potter – I do plan to speak to him, but what we talk about isn't your concern." He shrugged and gave her a sardonic wave before turning the corner and disappearing.
She walked slowly towards the Great Hall for lunch, her mind in a whirl. The last hour had shown her the side of James Potter who had defended her against Bellatrix Lestrange – more than two years ago. As he had demonstrated to her time and again, he had his moments of chivalry, nobility and honour. She shook her head… Though she'd known him for three years, she felt that she was nowhere close to figuring out the enigma that was James Potter.
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"Why, that no good pile of Doxy droppings! How dare he!" Liz growled, her eyes so narrow that they were sea-green slits.
"Calm down, Liz – the important thing is, I'm OK now!" Lily assured her best friend. "I mean, it wasn't pleasant when I got hit by that Stinging Hex, but I'm happy to say that I caused as much – possibly more – pain than I endured." She looked at the Slytherin table as she spoke with a self-satisfied smirk on her face, and Liz followed her gaze and smirked, too; it was curiously gratifying to see Mulciber lower himself gingerly as he took a seat at the table.
Liz laughed and said, "Yeah, that's true – but you got a detention for fighting back!"
"He did, too – for attacking me," Lily pointed out. "McGonagall wasn't pleased – she lectured me on how I shouldn't try to hurt others, even while duelling, and how defensive spells were the key to win a duel – but I could swear that she looked a little proud, and as it is, I only got lines! Besides, as far as I'm concerned – if I'm getting a detention for defending myself whilst burning that bloody bullfrog's bum – I'd say it was worth it!" Liz burst out into laughter once again, stopping only after she got a stitch in her side.
"By the way, that's a nice tongue twister," her best friend said, trying to catch her breath, "Try saying it ten times faster! Burning that bloody bullfrog's bum!"
"What was that? Who burnt whose bum, now?"
Lily wheeled around to see Marlene and Mary standing behind them, wearing expressions of surprise on their visages. Liz broke out into helpless laughter once again as Lily relayed the afternoon's events to the others; within minutes, all four girls were crying tears of mirth. Her friends talked about their day as they had dinner.
After dinner, as they began to make their way back to the common room, Liz took Lily aside and said, "So, James helped you, eh?"
Lily blushed a little at her friend's teasing tone. "Yes – he did, but – come on, Liz, anyone would have done the same thing!" she replied. "Those imbeciles attacked me for no reason – and I held on for as long as I could, but they were too much for me. And – it was nice of Potter to help out."
Liz rolled her eyes and said, "Fascinating, but that's not what I meant. Lil – the bloke ditched his date for you! He could've just left you there, found a prefect or someone to take you back to Hogwarts, and gone on with his day – but nay, he had to be the white knight – taking you to the Hospital Wing! I'm telling you, that bloke – he fancies you!"
Lily blushed even further, but rallied almost immediately. "Then explain to me – why did he decline to join me for lunch, preferring instead to go back to his date? He could've just stayed, couldn't he? Ha!" she added triumphantly. "That's got you stumped!"
"Well," said Liz, considering, as they entered the common room. "Look at it this way, Lily – he may fancy you, but he didn't want to leave his date in the lurch – incidentally, did he tell her that he'd be back as soon as possible?"
"He did, yeah," said Lily, remembering. Liz smirked and said, "There you go – that's why he went back! If he hadn't said he'd be back, he wouldn't have given two hoots about his date – but since he did say that, he had to be true to his word. I'm telling you – it's easy to understand him."
"Easy for you," muttered Lily as they entered the dormitory. Liz proceeded to give her a detailed account of her date, and Lily noted her friend's blush as she talked about how Kevin had kissed her before asking her for a second date, which she had agreed to. After teasing Liz mercilessly, Lily finally bade goodnight to her before settling into bed. It had certainly been a full day.
The next morning, Lily and Liz arrived late for breakfast, only to find the Marauders in a heated discussion of some sort. Well, it was only Black and Peter – Remus and Potter were sitting silently, looking amused.
"Come on, just do it, Pete!" Black was saying as they sat down. Peter shook his head and said, "I told you – not my problem! Do it yourself!"
"I said I'd buy you twenty Chocoballs, didn't I?"
"So what? It's your mess, you clean it up – and twenty, don't make me laugh! That's not enough anyway!"
"OK, OK, fine – thirty?"
Lily could see a bit of hesitation in Peter's eyes as he said with less certainty, "No, Sirius – she's your problem!"
"She?" interrupted Lily, raising her eyebrows. Black looked at her in surprise; it was as if he'd just realized that they were sitting there.
"Yeah, what's going on?" Liz asked them. "What've you lot done now?"
"Not us – just Sirius here," said Potter, a little indignantly. Turning to her, he asked, with a twinkle in his eyes, "'Morning, Evans – sleep well? Elephant ears would've given a good cushioning effect, you know – you should've tried them out for a day or two before deciding whether to keep them!"
Lily rolled her eyes; if he was going to mock her all the time, she probably would've been better off without his help. She simply stuck out her tongue at him before asking Black, "So who is this 'she', Black?"
"The Minister for Magic – Eugenia Jenkins," Black replied sarcastically, and Potter laughed. She frowned and looked inquiringly at Peter instead.
"He's – we're – talking about Karen – Karen Norton," said Peter, a little nervously.
"So what about Karen?" Liz asked him. He shifted uncomfortably and said, "Well – Sirius didn't really enjoy his date yesterday, so – he wants to, well, end things with her. But he wants me to do it!"
"And why is that?" Liz asked Black. "Don't want to break her heart, do we? My, my – looks like you have a heart, too, Black!" she added mischievously.
"Or, he's just too cowardly to do it on his own," said Lily thoughtfully. Looking at him, she asked, "Well – are you?"
"Er," said Black uncomfortably, "Well – not cowardly – but come on, if I say that to her now, she'll cry and argue and become all – I don't know, emotional? And who wants that? Nah, it's better if Peter splits up with her on my behalf. Less of a blow – she'll be OK, too," he added as an afterthought.
"I was wrong," said Liz to Lily. "He doesn't have a heart."
Lily laughed and said dryly, "Wow – apparently all those who dwell in Gryffindor aren't brave. Surprising, isn't it? You sure this is the right House for you, Black?"
"Not your business!" Black said, his face a little red. Turning to Peter, he said, "Look, Pete – how about fifty Chocoballs and I do your Transfiguration homework for a week?"
Peter considered. "Well – make that Herbology – and two weeks." Black groaned, and Peter grinned, knowing that he'd won. "It's that or no deal," he said triumphantly.
"Fine – you fat crook, you drive a hard bargain. Deal," said Black with resignation, and the two shook hands. Peter grinned widely, got up and began to walk towards the Hufflepuff table, where Karen and her friends were having breakfast.
"This is going to get ugly," Potter said, as they all watched with trepidation. It was all over quickly, though; within ten seconds, Karen got up, and threw her pumpkin juice in Peter's face. He staggered backwards in shock, and Karen shot a look of pure fury in their direction before storming off, her friends staring at her, frozen. Potter and Black began to laugh, while Remus, too, looked almost reluctantly amused.
"Oooh, that's rough," said Liz, cringing slightly. She proceeded to smack Black in the head before saying, "Moron – why don't you grow a spine instead of having Peter do your dirty work?"
But Black was laughing. "See? A clean split – no fuss, no tears! It was good while it lasted – but I got bored of snogging her, to be honest."
"You're such a pig," said Lily, and Black rolled his eyes. "Yeah? Well, mark my words, Evans – splitting up with someone isn't an easy thing to do. There's no good way – so, rather Pete than me! Besides – he seems to be better at it!" He snickered as Peter returned to them, his eyes narrowed and his face wet from the pumpkin juice.
"I knew I should've asked for more than two weeks of homework," he muttered, sitting down and wiping his face with a napkin amid his friends' laughter. Shaking her head, Lily returned to her food, only to find an owl sitting near her plate patiently.
"Hello," she said to it, "You have a letter for me?" The owl hooted and stuck out its leg, and she detached the envelope attached to it, confused; who would be writing to her? She saw the name on the envelope and her heart began to race immediately. It was a letter from Hans – the handsome boy she'd met at the Quidditch World Cup. She quickly stuffed it out of sight, unnoticed by anyone except for Liz, who raised her eyebrows but gave no other sign of being surprised. Lily nodded at her reassuringly to indicate that all was well.
After breakfast, she raced to her dormitory (with Liz right at her heels) and tore open the envelope to find a small scroll. She unrolled it and began to read Hans's neat handwriting.
Dear Lily,
I hope it isn't too presumptuous of me to send you a letter. I did have your full name to go on, so all I had to do was to send this owl to Hogwarts and hope it found you!
That final, though – brilliant game, eh? I was absolutely gutted when Diane missed that fifth penalty – she of all people didn't deserve to miss it. It's a cruel sport, Quidditch is! You got the better of us that time – but next time, we're going to win!
How have you been? It was a shame that we didn't get to chat too much when we met in France, but it was nice meeting you, if only briefly. I hope we can stay in touch! You can write to me at the address on the envelope.
My best to your friends, and I hope you'll write to me soon. Have a good term!
Cheers,
Hans Neumann
Lily looked up to find Liz looking at her with a teasing smile on her face. "Oooh, you're blushing!" her best friend exclaimed excitedly.
"I am not," said Lily firmly, but Liz simply snorted. "Have you looked in the mirror?" she asked sceptically, and Lily proceeded to do that at once – to realize that Liz was indeed right.
"So, are you going to write back?" prodded Liz.
"Maybe," said Lily mischievously, but still blushing. Liz laughed and said, "You'd better. Make a pen-friend out of him!"
"Yeah, that's the plan!" agreed Lily; it wouldn't hurt having a pen-friend, would it? Not one to leave things for later, she immediately sat at her table and began to scribble a letter on a fresh roll of parchment.
Dear Hans,
It was great to hear from you – and no, it wasn't presumptuous at all. I'm quite glad you wrote, honestly!
Yeah, it was indeed a great game – and I did feel bad for Diane, she doesn't deserve to have the burden of that loss. In fact, I met her the morning of the game (my friend Liz's mother used to play Quidditch for England a long time ago; she took us all to meet the players, it was fantastic!), and she is wonderful in person. Shame that she's retired by now, though.
I've been quite well, thank you. It's been more than a month since term started, and we've got a lot of new stuff to learn – Transfiguration is proving to be tough once again, with our Professor now teaching us Cross-Species Switches. I tell you, I'd be a lot happier if I didn't lack a knack for it – but I hope I'll get there in the end.
How have you been? How is life at Beauxbatons? Do they teach you similar magic as us, too? You should be in your final year, right? I bet it'll be stressful, with tough exams and a career to think about. Good luck with that!
'Course we can stay in touch – I'd like that. I look forward to hearing back from you soon!
Cheers,
Lily Evans
Lily sat up, read the letter once again before folding it and placing it in an envelope. She simply wrote, 'Hans Neumann, Beauxbatons Academy' on it, and stood up, ready to send it. Liz, who had been lying on her bed silently all this while, now said, her tone mocking, "Wow, that was fast – it's almost as if you were dying to talk to him!"
Ignoring her friend's teasing, she said, "I'm going to the Owlery now – you want to come?"
"Nah, I just feel like lazing around today – it's Sunday, after all!" said Liz, yawning.
Lily grinned and said, "And that pile of homework is going to do itself, is it?"
Liz groaned. "You had to remind me, didn't you? All right, Miss I'm-so-sincere-I've-never-turned-in-homework-late… Let's get started when you get back. Now go away and let me grab forty winks in peace."
"If you want to dream about Kevin –" Lily teased, and Liz threw her pillow at her. She ducked, laughing, as her blushing friend shot back, "Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Now skedaddle!"
Still chortling, Lily stepped out of the dormitory. She was happy for her friend, but more than that, she was delighted to find a way to ruffle Liz's almost un-rufflable feathers. Wait, that's not even a word, she thought. What is the opposite of ruffle? Ah, yes – smoothen…
She entered to the Owlery and looked around; spotting Cavana perched up on one of the higher beams, she gave a faint whistle. At that, her pet swooped down immediately, and settled herself on her hand, her eyes bright and alert.
"Right, I've got a job for you, girl," said Lily briskly. "Go to Beauxbatons Academy – that's in France, so it may take you a few hours – stop by for food, won't you?" Cavana gave her an imperious nod. Lily tied the envelope to her leg. "There you go – all set. Safe flight!" she said, and Cavana gave her an affectionate nip before taking off into the dreary morning sky.
As she was about to step out of the Owlery, however, Lily noticed someone sitting near one of the tables at the other end, staring absently at the sky outside. Curious, she craned her neck to see who it was – to her surprise, it was Jane. Remembering what Liz had told her a couple of days ago, she approached the girl… It was most unusual to see her alone; Lily had hardly seen her and Mark apart for the better part of the last three years.
"Jane?" she said tentatively, and Jane wheeled around sharply, her face relaxing when she saw who it was. Up close, Lily noticed that Jane's eyes looked rather red.
"Oh – hi, Lily," she said, with a somewhat forced smile. "What're you doing here?"
"Cooking," said Lily, attempting to put Jane at ease with humour. Jane gave a little chuckle and said, "An obvious question, I suppose…"
"You OK?" Lily asked. Jane sighed and said, "Well – not really, but I will be…"
It was an odd moment; Lily wasn't sure if she should leave it at that, or if a little prodding would be all right. She decided to go for it. "D'you – d'you want to talk about it?" she asked.
There was a pause, following which Jane said, "Well – Mark's avoiding me. He – er, he asked me out on a date yesterday…" She blushed, and Lily suddenly felt uncomfortable. Cursing her decision to pry, she said tentatively, "Oh."
"The thing is – oh, Lily – the thing is, I had no clue that he felt that way!" Jane burst out, with tears in her honey-brown eyes. "I have always looked at him like my best friend – so, naturally, I was blindsided! I, er – just looked him in shock, and he must've understood, because all he said was, 'You know what, never mind… See you around, Jane!' and just walked away! And he's been avoiding me ever since!" She gave a huge, dramatic sniff.
Lily sighed and said, "Come here…" She pulled Jane into a hug, and the other girl began to cry more freely over her shoulder. They stood that way for about a minute until Jane drew back.
"Thanks, Lily – you must I'm stupid," she said, her face flushed and tear-stained. Lily shook her head and said, "It's OK – don't worry about it. I'm sure Mark will talk to you in a couple of days – look at it from his angle. He probably thinks he embarrassed himself, so he's avoiding you until he can come to terms with it. He'll be all right – and so will you!"
Jane smiled despite herself. "I hope you're right. Thanks – for, you know, just talking to me…"
"No problem," said Lily, a little awkwardly. "But Liz is the one you should thank – she was the one who noticed that you weren't – er, yourself – and she's sorry she didn't ask you why. But she mentioned it to me."
"Liz is sweet," said Jane, a little cheerfully. "She just came to ask me what I knew about Kevin Bell – handsome, isn't he?"
"Yep," agreed Lily, relieved that Jane seemed a lot better than before. "Come on – let's go back to the common room. Maybe Mark will talk to you today."
"Maybe," said Jane hopefully. "I don't want to lose him – he's my best friend!" she added feelingly.
"You won't," said Lily firmly, and Jane smiled her thanks. Together, they exited the Owlery.
Lily was pensive as she walked back. Well, Potter didn't seem this upset after I rejected him… Perhaps he's stronger, or maybe he doesn't really fancy me… Who knows?
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"Come on, just drink some tea at least!" said Lily, to Marlene, a little pleadingly. Marlene shook her head, looking a little green, unwilling to open her mouth lest she brought up last night's dinner.
"You need your strength, Marlene!" Mary said gently. "After all – you're going to score a lot of goals!"
"Ugh – you're kidding, right? I know I'm going to mess up!" Marlene exclaimed, speaking her first words of the day.
It was the day of the first Quidditch match of that year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin. It was also Liz's and Marlene's first game – and it was an understatement that Marlene was nervous.
Mary snorted and said, "Shut up – James says you're great! You'll do just fine!"
"Practice and matches are different, Mary!" Marlene said wildly. "I'm just going to let them all down – I can't bear it!" She buried her face in her hands. It was unnatural to see Marlene like that – she had a sunny, cheerful disposition, always laughing and bubbly.
Lily rubbed her hand on Marlene's back smoothly. "You're going to be just fine, Mar," she said. "You're going to ace this game!"
Liz, who had been eating her breakfast silently until then, said, "Come on – stop being such a baby, Marlene – you're going to play the best sodding game of your life!"
"Easy for you to say," Marlene muttered. "You have nerves of steel!"
"Well – I think it's genetic," said Liz, with mock-thoughtfulness. "But then, I don't have a brother who is the star player for the Appleby Arrows –"
"But that's just it!" exclaimed Marlene. "Allan is so good – he's amazing! And me – when people see me mess up today, they're going to think I stink!"
"Pressure of expectations," said Mary decisively. "Don't worry, Mar – you'll score more goals than James, I guarantee it!"
"What's that now? More goals than me?" said a familiar voice, and James Potter grinned from behind Marlene. "Not happening!" He sat down on Marlene's other side and put his arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, Mar – I've seen you at practice, I know how good you are! You're going to be great!" Marlene nodded determinedly, still looking a little pale. Potter squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. "That's right – you're going to be just fine. Now – eat." Marlene obeyed, taking the previously untouched piece of toast that Mary had buttered up for her, and began to devour it hungrily.
Lily marvelled at how James Potter had succeeded where they had all failed. Then again, she knew that he and Marlene were old friends… They must have an understanding other's personalities, she thought.
An hour later, she was seated in the stands, cheering her team on. "Potter scores! Gryffindor lead seventy to ten!" came Dorcas Meadowes's cheery voice, and the Gryffindor supporters clapped and cheered. "Yeah, James!" yelled Black excitedly as Potter exchanged claps with Marlene and ignored Amy Blythe's outstretched hand completely. "He still doesn't like her, does he?" Mary pointed out from next to her, and Lily nodded. "She's not been bad, though," Mary continued, "She's scored three goals and James has scored four. Oh, I wish Marlene would get on the scoresheet, too!"
"She will," said Lily reassuringly. "Soon… Just have a little faith."
"Here's Blythe – passes left to McKinnon, and the other new Chaser speeds away on the left flank – tries to cross it, ooh, blocked by Baines, who passes it forward to – no, McKinnon intercepts, nice move!" Dorcas boomed appreciatively, and Lily and Mary cheered wildly; Marlene seemed to be doing just fine now. "McKinnon – feints to the left, ooh, nice turn – she SHOOTS – and SCORES! Eighty-ten to Gryffindor!"
"There, she did it!" Lily yelled as an ecstatic Mary hugged her. "Go, McKinnon!" yelled Black as Marlene excitedly exchanged claps with Potter and Amy Blythe; she seemed to be over her fit of nervousness that morning. Good for her, thought Lily with relief, but her eyes not on Marlene; instead, they were looking steadily at another scarlet-clad figure supremely detached from the proceedings of the game, gliding around at least fifty feet above them. Lily focused her binoculars on Liz, who looked completely at ease on her broom as she flew, ignoring the game, her blonde hair flying behind her. Typical Liz, thought Lily, smiling; so very focused on her goal – as always. Oh, wait – why is she diving?
For Liz had indeed gone into a steep dive; heart in mouth, Lily followed Liz's progress through the air as she streaked towards the ground, with a figure clad in green-and-silver on her tail but losing ground on her rapidly. The Gryffindor supporters egged her on with enthusiasm, and Lily followed her best friend's every move as she straightened her broom five feet off the ground: Liz narrowly dodged a Bludger by rolling and hanging upside-down from her broom, flew ahead the same way for a few moments before making a wild grab for the Snitch, all in quick succession. Lily watched, delighted and terrified in equal measure, as Liz righted her broom and accelerated upwards, grinning from ear-to-ear, her hand raised in triumph.
"She's done it – it's over! Gryffindor's new Seeker is too good for Slytherin's Higgs – Huntington's caught the Snitch! Gryffindor win!" Dorcas yelled into the Magical Megaphone with gusto as the Gryffindor section of the stands exploded with cheers. Their winning run against Slytherin now extended to nine matches – as Black now reminded them all by screaming "Nine-zero!" Lily felt proud of her best friend – Liz had been the picture of calmness, not turning a hair even as the Bludger had rocketed towards her, and she'd only just gotten away. Lily had never seen an upside-down catch of the Snitch before, either. It was an amazing catch – and yet, Lily felt that something was off about it. It was almost as if Liz was – showing off. She couldn't shake off the feeling that Liz could've caught the Snitch the right way up, too… It would've been easier that way, wouldn't it?
Lily shook her head as she descended from the stands and jogged towards the team to congratulate them, but her mind was preoccupied. Perhaps she was wrong… Though she understood Quidditch now, she was hopeless at flying. She shouldn't be judging whether a catch would've been easier the right way up – or the sloth-like way Liz had hung as she'd caught the Snitch.
She sighed and smiled as she approached Liz, who was busy celebrating with Marlene and Amy Blythe, of all people. She was going to have to ask Liz about it later…
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"So, why'd you show off?" Lily yelled into Liz's ear over the noise; the party in the common room was going on in full swing.
"What?" Liz yelled back, apparently not comprehending what she was referring to. She had been hoisted over many appreciative shoulders, and looked dishevelled with her usually-neat blonde hair a lot scruffier than usual, but still fresh.
"You know – the catch!" Lily shouted, before shaking her head and saying, "This is ridiculous – follow me, let's go where we don't have to yell!"
Liz obeyed, and they made their way through the sea of dancing people to the stairs that led upwards to their dormitories, where the music wasn't so loud. Lily turned to Liz and said, "Nice catch – but did you have to catch it upside-down? You nearly gave me heart failure!"
Liz laughed and said, "Come on – it was the Sloth Grip Roll! I dodged the Bludger first – then I saw the Snitch right in front of me, so I just caught it!"
"After flying upside-down for a few seconds," Lily pointed out. "Showing off, eh? Potter's rubbing off on you!" she added with a laugh.
Liz laughed again, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Well – if you are that good, I'd say you've earned the right to show off – wouldn't you?" she said, her tone teasing, but the look in her sea-green eyes was a little hard. Lily frowned slightly; she didn't want to start a quarrel.
"Yeah, guess so!" she agreed, in a quelling sort of way. Liz's features relaxed, and she said, "Good to know you appreciate our impeccable style, Lil! Now – let's go back and dance!"
"Yes – why not?" replied Lily, and followed her friend back to the loud music, not at all satisfied. Something wasn't right, Liz wouldn't show off – it wasn't in her nature. And yet, she'd noticed the hard glint in her friend's eyes as she'd tried to justify her upside-down catch…
Something was wrong. And she intended to find out what.
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Author's Note:
I changed the name of the boy Lily met in France before the Quidditch World Cup final from Ralf to Hans; less common. I have made the change in Chapter 31 as well. Thanks for reading and cheers!