A Way With Words

by ByeByeBirdie

This is a story about a boy entering into his final year at Hogwarts, determined to make it his best yet. A boy who lived and breathed Quidditch and craved that elusive Quidditch Cup more than anything. A boy who only ever wanted to find his place in the world and had to go through a lot of twists and turns to get there. This is the story of James Sirius Potter.

37. Work This Body

A/N: And we're back with yet another installment of the Alice-James lovefest...oh yeah, plus all the other equally adorable characters. If you were hoping for a long chapter, you're in luck. This is one of my longest yet. You get some smut mixed with some Quidditch mixed with some fun. Could life be any better than this?

---

A WAY WITH WORDS

Chapter 37: Work This Body

By: ByeByeBirdie

"And I will work this body, I will burn this flame
Oh, in the dead of night, and in the pouring rain
Yeah, I'm a workaholic and I swear, I swear
Yeah, one day I will beat you fair and square
Show me what you got
Work this body on the floor
Who do you think you are?
C'mon, meet me on the court."
-Walk the Moon

XOXOXO

---

We were back at Platform 9 ¾ the very next morning. Lily and Albus were saying their goodbyes to Dad while I could feel Mum's eyes on me. But I was too busy staring at the front of the train, feelings strangely nostalgic at the thought that this would be the last time I'd be taking this trek to Hogwarts. As Easter Break drew to a close, I realized how little time I had left to be a teenager before I would be thrust into adulthood. I was ready for the Real World but that didn't mean I was ready to let go of my childhood.

More importantly, I wasn't ready to let go of Alice.

"James," Mum finally spoke.

I turned around to face her.

"Don't be in such a hurry to grow up and move away from this world that you don't remember to enjoy these last two months of school," she spoke softly.

There was a regret in her eyes that told me Dad had had a conversation with her about my very ambiguous future.

I just hoped she understood.

With a lopsided smile, I said, "Now when have I ever been in a hurry to grow up?"

She forced out a chuckle and reached over to embrace me. I embraced her back, feeling a kind of safe love that I hadn't felt in so long.

When I pulled back, I turned towards Dad who was not doing a very subtle job of eavesdropping. "Was there something you wanted to add to that, Dad?" I said with a smirk.

He grinned sheepishly. "Nope, she pretty much said what I was thinking," he chuckled, reaching over to embrace me. "Keep in touch, James, okay?"

"As long as you do the same with me."

He nodded eagerly. "You've got it," he said. "Now go on. Wouldn't want you to miss the train."

I smiled and started to take off.

"And for Merlin's sake, try to stay out of trouble!" Mum called out.

I turned around with a laugh and a small shake of the head. "Oh, Mum," I chuckled. "You know I won't."

XOXOXO

---

Unlike on the ride back to King's Cross, we were all very much awake and hyped up. Probably because Fred had an entire bagful of chocolate and Dash passed around a bottle of firewhisky he found at the bottom of his bag so we were very much on a sugar and alcohol high.

"Oh, c'mon, truth or dare!" Fred snickered at Alice.

"If I pick truth, you're going to want to hear all the details regarding the Harry-walking-in-on-us incident," she drawled. "And if I pick dare, I somehow think I'll be streaking through the hallway. So pick a new game."

He pouted but perked up a few seconds later. "Strip poker!"

Alice sighed and smacked me in the chest with the back of her hand. "Talk to your perverted cousin for me, please."

"Why? I'm definitely not against strip poker," I smirked, which very much earned me a slap to the back of my head. I grinned and leaned over to kiss her. She tried to push me away but ended up giving in with a laugh.

"Speaking of stripping," Dash said with a curious look towards the two of us.

"We're not giving you any details," Alice barked at him.

He grinned sheepishly and I decided it would be a really good time to change the subject. "Did you see they released the Quidditch finals schedule in the paper this morning?"

Fred made a face. "Yeah, but did they really have to have the first game of the series on the very same day as the Slytherin-Ravenclaw match?"

"It starts next Saturday?" Ryleigh questioned.

I nodded. "Oh, yes. It will be an incredibly fun-filled day of Quidditch."

"Or a totally sucky day of Quidditch if neither game goes the way you want," Fred drawled.

I shot him a look. "I'm supposed to be the pessimistic one out of the two of us. Don't take my role away from me."

"Well then start acting pessimistic," he whined.

I shrugged. "I could but I've recently decided to try a more positive approach on life."

That seemed to surprise everyone. "Okay, I only have one question," Kye spoke up, her eyes narrowing. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with Potter?"

I rolled my eyes. Her comment wasn't unjustified but after a week at home building new relationships with my family, the cynical side of me that used to dictate my every choice faded into an unexpected contentment that I was wholeheartedly embracing. Life was too short to hate on it all the time. I spent the past six years resenting so much around me. It was time to start enjoying my life instead of just surviving it.

"I've spent enough days in my lifetime fretting over Quidditch matches and all it's gotten me is a forehead full of worry lines," I said with a shrug.

"Ah, good, so you've noticed those, too," Fred commented.

I ignored him. "Is there a chance that both Ravenclaw and Slytherin scrape up enough points to knock us out of the finals? Yes. Is there a chance that the Harpies beat the Cannons? Yes. But the truth is, the odds are in my favor. So I am choosing to believe that the Quidditch Gods have my back."

They all still looked unconvinced as Dash spoke up. "You don't actually believe there are Quidditch Gods, right?" he questioned. "Because that's borderline obsessive."

I reached out to kick him in the shin. He pulled away just in time with a sheepish chuckle. "I may not necessarily believe in an actual God but I do believe there is a higher power out there. His name is Chuckles the Quidditch God and he's gotten me through a lot of tough Quidditch times."

Concern appeared to have replaced their amusement. "You named your Quidditch God?" Ryleigh sighed with the shake of the head.

"Of course. It would have been rude not to."

Ryleigh glanced around at the rest of the group. "Is anyone else concerned about James' sanity?"

"Oh, that's something I've been concerned about for years," Alice piped up with a shrug. "Since he decided to put rainbow streaks in his hair and run around the yard yelling 'I'm a shiny unicorn.'"

"Oy!" I groaned as the others burst into laughter. "There is no need to dredge up the past!"

"If there are more stories like that one, there is," Dash spoke with gleeful eyes.

I shot him a look. "Why don't I just tell the story of the time you tried making a boys-only fort in the common room because Bishop was being a meanie-head?"

"She kept showing off her stupid wand skills like she was better than me!"

"She was better than you," I reminded him. "And I was more focusing on the part where as a thirteen-year-old, you called her a meanie-head."

He shrugged. "I never said I had the most sophisticated vocabulary. That's what we kept Alice around for."

"Gee, and all this time I thought it was because I made for lovely company," she drawled sarcastically.

"Nah, it's mostly the vocabulary thing—ow!" he whimpered as Alice's foot actually made contact with his shin.

She grinned. "On top of having wonderful vocabulary, I'm also incredibly skilled in the art of kicking someone who deserves it best."

Rubbing the sore spot on his shin, he muttered, "I'm really going to have to remember that."

XOXOXO

---

"Alright, Team," I said, pacing the floor of the Clock Tower on Sunday night. "Seven days. Seven days and we'll know exactly where we stand. Seven days and we'll know if we're in that final or not. Seven. Freaking. Days."

"Yeah, I think we heard you the first twenty times," Jax drawled from where he lay on his back on the floor.

I turned around and glared at him. "I don't like your negative energy."

"Eh, that's okay. I'm not your biggest fan right now either."

As stifled laughter filled the Clock Tower, my glare just intensified. "Get off the bloody floor, Bloch."

He rolled his eyes but sat up. "James, we've been here for nearly an hour and all you've done is lecture us on the fact that we only have seven days left of the unknown. And after the ninth time you said it, all I can think about is where the hell are you getting seven days from because I only count six."

As the rest of the team burst into laughter, I scowled. And then I hesitated because in doing a recount, I realized he was right.

I really hated it when other people were right.

"Okay, so I might be a little on edge," I sighed, leaning up against the window ledge.

"Oh, really? None of us have noticed," my sister drawled.

I shot her a look and ignored the stifled laughter from the others.

"We know you can't go two days without seeing all of our lovely faces," Fred chimed in, "But can I point out the obvious?"

"No," I said.

He did anyway. "This Team Meeting is pretty pointless."

I scowled and Alice used that time to speak up. "He's unfortunately right, Jay," she said with a sheepish smile. "Until Saturday's match, we won't really know what the fate of this team is."

I made a face. "Oh, don't say that," I whined.

I had all the faith in the world that we would make it to that final, mostly because the cost for not going to the final was too great for me to even consider, and I did not appreciate others pointing out that Gryffindor may have very well played their last match.

Did I know that there was an outcome that had us not playing in that final? Yes. Was I going to acknowledge that outcome at any point before the match? No.

We couldn't have played our last match. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to it all. And I needed to show the recruiters what I was made of. I needed to prove it to myself that this was what I was born to do. I needed to know that no matter where I ended up, whether overseas or local, that I'd at least be playing Quidditch. I needed this.

Clearly picking up on my turmoil, Alice picked herself off the floor and made her way over to me. "I'm not saying that to be cruel," she pointed out. "I'm saying that to be logical."

"Yeah, and when did I ever do anything logical?" I grunted.

She laughed and shook her head at me. "Inside, we are all screaming for the chance to make it to that final game. My stomach is in knots at the very idea that there is only six days left before we'll know the outcome. And it kills me to know that we all could have very well played our last match together."

Okay, seriously, people needed to stop saying that.

"Is this the motivational part of the speech? Because if it is, it could use some work," I drawled.

She smacked me playfully on the shoulder. "The unfortunate truth of all of this is, our team's fate isn't even in our own hands."

"Yeah, you really shouldn't ever become a motivational speaker."

She rolled her eyes, her upper lip twitching in hidden amusement, and she pulled herself up on to the window ledge, reaching over to massage my shoulders. "But look at us now, Jay. Look at the team we have. Think about where we were on that first day of Quidditch practice back in September and where we are now. You helped hand-pick this team and you molded us into the players we are today. You have inspired us to not just be good players but to go after greatness. You have spent years perfecting strategies that no team has ever achieved before. You love this game and you love this team and you make us all love it with you. This team is the best damned team Gryffindor has ever had. So if this is it for us, if we have no more games to play, if we've played our last game with this group of incredible players, I know that I can hold my head up high and smile proudly because even though we failed at getting that Cup, I don't feel like a failure. Not with you as my Captain and these guys as my teammates. And we all have you to thank for that."

Considering how much I was stressing out about a match that didn't include my team at all, it was impressive how just a few prolific words could make me suddenly feel so calm and at ease.

I reached over and pressed a kiss to my girlfriend's cheek. "I change my mind," I said with a smile. "You can totally become a motivational speaker."

As we all laughed, Rose spoke up. "She's right, though," she said with a shrug. "I have been pretty adamant about not wanting to join this team with you and that other unruly cousin of yours over there running this show. And yet, you somehow made it happen."

"Other unruly cousin reporting for duty," Fred spoke up. "And you only joined because he blackmailed you."

"Shh, let her say nice things about me," I hushed. "She never does this."

More laughter filled the tower.

"We've had our ups and downs this year but I still think we have the best damned team in the school," Cass spoke up with a smile. "Not to go all sap mode on your arses, but I love you guys."

"Aw, I feel a tear coming on," Fred teased, wiping a fake tear away and earning himself half a cookie to the forehead. "You're not wrong though. We really are the best team in my completely unbiased opinion."

That earned him a roomful of snorts and laughs before Jax chimed in. "When Bishop was on the team, we were an okay group of players. Probably better than just okay. But this group right here, this is what a team is supposed to feel like. We're not just a bunch of players playing together, we're one united unit. Not to mention, I'm fairly certain I've gained back a few years on my life ever since that devil woman quit."

"Ah, yes, but then we just replaced her with devil woman #2," I teased, glancing over at my sister who was currently glaring at me.

"Who you calling a devil?" she scoffed.

"The girl sporting bright red hair, that's who," I smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Not all people with red hair are the devil."

"Uh, have you met our family? They most certainly are."

"I think I take offense to that," Hugo pondered.

"I know I take offense to that," Lily drawled. "Don't make me push you off your broom the next time we're at practice, brother dearest."

"Which will be when?" CJ questioned, glancing over at me.

"Good question," I muttered. "Bloody Slytherin and Ravenclaw are monopolizing the pitch all week."

"Yeah, it's not like they have a Quidditch match on Saturday or anything," Fred drawled.

"I booked it for Sunday evening at six o'clock," I said. "We don't know what will happen on Saturday but if—correction, when we end up in that final, that only gives us four weeks to prepare for our most intense match ever. So you better believe we'll be doubling up on practices."

"It's a good thing we don't also have any exams coming up," said Rose. "No, wait, exams start in seven weeks!"

"Quidditch first, baby," I grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "You're insufferable."

"I've been told," I spoke dismissively. "Alright, let's go over the numbers again for Saturday's match. We are-"

"Oh, for the love all things Circe, how many times is he going to do this?" Jax whined.

"-are currently in the lead with 610 points. Slytherin is just behind Ravenclaw at-"

"At 400 points" the group announced in unison.

I nodded. "Yes, and Ravenclaw has-"

"420 points," they said once again.

"That puts Slytherin behind us by 210," Alice drawled.

"And Ravenclaw behind us by 190," Fred followed.

I shot them both looks. "So best case scenario is-"

"Neither of those teams score that many points with the quaffle," Lily added robotically.

I rolled my eyes. "Because-"

"Then it won't even matter who catches the snitch, we'll be in," spoke CJ and Hugo in unison.

Okay, this was bordering on obnoxious. "BUT!" I said, scowling, "If one of those teams did happen to score exactly that many points with the quaffle, it has to be-"

"Ravenclaw," Cass chimed in. "Because if they don't catch the snitch and we wind up tying with them point-wise, we win the tiebreaker since we beat them in November."

"Yes, and-"

"Slytherin beat us so if they tie with us, they win the tiebreaker," Rose murmured.

Planting my hands on my hips, I glared at all of them, most of whom were trying very hard to contain their laughter. "Don't you all have better things to do with your time than mock my motivational speeches?"

"That was a motivational speech?" Rose drawled, her eyebrow shooting up. "Are you sure you know the meaning of the word 'motivational?'"

I threw a brownie at her. It wound up in her hair but she was too busy laughing to care.

Sighing, I glanced over at Alice. "Is it too late to join the Hufflepuff team?"

She giggled and leaned over to kiss me. "You love us."

Glancing towards the rest of my laughing teammates, I could only shake my head and say, "I do but I'm suddenly struggling to come up with one reason why."

XOXOXO

---

"So, you're on edge, hm?"

We were all heading down the stairwell when Alice grabbed my hand from behind. I turned around and planted my hands on her hips. "Like you haven't noticed?" I chuckled.

Her lips were on mine before I even finished the statement and I reveled in the kiss, sinking into it in a way I so desperately needed.

When she pulled back, she pressed her forehead to mine and said, "I might have a way of making you less on edge."

My eyebrows shot up. "I hope your way includes us getting naked and doing highly inappropriate things with each other."

She grinned and kissed me again. "And this time," she said in between kisses, "There's no chance of your father walking in on us."

XOXOXO

---

Later as we both lay in her bed, our clothes strewn about the room, I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Alice had this way about her that could somehow calm my nerves with just a single kiss. Something about being with her felt easy and comfortable. As if we had been doing this for years.

Which minus the whole sex thing, I suppose we kinda had been.

"What are you thinking about?"

I jumped and turned towards her, curling my arm around her and pressing a kiss to her cheek. "How beautiful you are."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you were not."

"Well, maybe not at that particular time, but about seventy-five percent of my time is thinking about that so it totally still stands."

She blushed. I loved that I could still make her blush. "It's annoying how perfect you can be sometimes."

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Oh, babe, if anyone is perfect here it's definitely you."

She rolled her eyes at me. "I'm not perfect."

"Ah, but you are. You have a perfect smile," I said, kissing her lips. "Perfect hair." I brushed a stray hair from her face. "A very perfect arse." I squeezed her arse which caused her to laugh. "Your perfect…shoulder," I said, running out of things to say as I leaned over and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

"My perfect shoulder?" she laughed. "You had me up until that last one."

"What? It is perfect! You have this cute little freckle right in the middle of your shoulderblade that is perfectly round and beautiful."

She looked surprised by my comment but merely offered a giggle. "You're stretching, Jay."

"You have a pretty perfect laugh, too," I said with a shrug, leaning over and capturing her lips with mine. "Oh, and let's not forget that the sex is pretty perfect, too."

She threw her head back and laughed that perfect laugh of hers before glancing over at me with a smile. "Well, I don't have much to compare it to, but I'd say it's pretty perfect myself."

I pulled her towards me and she settled into the nook of my arm. "Whatdya say we stay here forever, Ace?" I murmured, burying my lips into her hair.

"I'd say we should consider putting on clothes then because eventually my dad would come looking for me and we do not need a repeat of last week."

I blanched at the reminder but in glancing at her, I thought the risk might be worth it. "No. No clothes. Clothes bad. Naked good."

She laughed but it quickly died out. I saw a bit of sadness in her eyes as she glanced at me hesitantly. "As much as I'd be all for staying here forever, there is an entire world out there waiting for us to explore it," she murmured. "And as scary as that is, I also find it somewhat exciting."

I pressed a kiss to her temple before nodding. "If you're excited, then I'm excited."

She tilted her head up towards me. "You're not excited?"

Hesitating, I said, "I think I am. But I'm also not sure how I'm supposed to let go of this place. This was where I felt the most at home for the past six years. It gave us so much. Life lessons and friendship and adventures and so many memories that will live with us forever. What happens if the future memories don't measure up to the past ones?"

She opened her mouth to respond but shut it to carefully consider my question. "I think it's really easy to fear the future, to wonder about the unknown, but all we can really do is live in this present moment and make the very best of it as much as we can."

She always seemed to know exactly what to say. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a real way with words?" I whispered.

She met my gaze and smiled. "Only you but that's because you bring out the best in me."

I looked at her and suddenly felt my heart race unexpectedly, her warm eyes meeting my slight panicked ones. Because in that moment, in that completely perfect moment, there was so much of me that wanted to tell her that I loved her, that she was the only girl I was ever meant to be with. But the very idea of saying those words aloud terrified me. There was too much to lose but not enough to gain so I ignored the feelings in my heart, I ignored the words on the very edge of my tongue, and instead I just leaned over to kiss her.

When I pulled back, I said with my usual cheek, "Well, if you're insisting we make this present moment the very best, there's really only one way to do that."

She pretended to think about it before saying, "Finish off the brownies? I'm starving."

I groaned. "Not what I was going to say."

She laughed and sat up. I pouted as she did. "C'mon, aren't you hungry?"

I smirked as I watched her naked arse scoot off the bed. "Oh, yes."

She turned around to give me a look. "I meant for dessert, you prat."

I looked at her. "If you're what I'm having for dessert then I stand by my 'oh yes.'"

She smacked me on the thigh, though I could tell she was struggling to hold in a laugh. "I meant actual food, you horndog."

With a chuckle, I scrunched up my nose and then sighed. "Yeah, fine, I could eat."

Alice laughed and headed towards her desk. Reaching for the tray of brownies, she grabbed them and tossed them on to the bed.

I grabbed one and bit into it, only then noticing that Alice was not joining me.

"Don't you want a brownie? What are you do—aw, c'mon, I thought we agreed you wouldn't put on clothes!"

XOXOXO

---

Wednesday brought our warmest weather thus far so Alice, Fred, Ryleigh, and I found ourselves outside after lunch.

"I still can't believe the Harpies beat the Macaws," Ryleigh was saying. Ryleigh's head was currently in her boyfriend's lap, who was leaning up against the tree. "The Macaws nearly had an undefeated season."

"Nearly being the key word there," I pointed out. I was laying in the grass in front of the two of them while Alice sat crosslegged beside me. "My sister was certainly pleased. She's going to be a right pain during the final series."

"Yeah, because you won't be a right pain back, Mr. Cannons fan," Fred snorted.

I grinned. "Being a right pain is my specialty."

"I can attest to that," Alice spoke up with a teasing grin.

"Oy, no teasing the boyfriend. It wounds his fragile heart," I whined.

She giggled and leaned over to kiss me. Pulling back, she ruffled up my hair and said, "And all this time, I thought you were without a heart."

While the other two laughed, I merely pouted. "My nonexistent heart doesn't appreciate that."

She laughed and kissed me again and in doing so, Ryleigh spoke. "That could be you next year, Potter."

I turned to her quizzically and was greeted by a curious smile. "What could be me next year?"

She shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You could be playing in a professional league's final series. And you could be one of the players who helped your team make it there."

I was both appreciative and nervous about her words for every time my Quidditch future came up, I didn't know what to think. "I hope so" was all I said.

"I know so," Alice spoke up with a smile.

If only I had her confidence that everything would work out.

"That could be you too, Ace," I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes but it was Fred who spoke up, the curiosity evident in his tone. "You've spent your entire life obsessed with the very idea of playing in a professional Quidditch league and now that we're talking about it, you're changing the subject?"

"I'm not changing the subject," I argued. "I'm just putting the subject on Ace."

"Why?" he asked point-blank.

I glanced over at Alice tensely for I realized then that while I had talked to my father and to Teddy and to Alice about the possibility of me leaving the country to pursue my dreams, I hadn't once discussed it with Fred.

"Because," I said softly, "I don't know what team or what country I'll end up playing for and what's worse is, I don't know which team or country I want to be playing for."

He stared at me. "When did you stop wanting to play for the Cannons and where was I when you stopped wanting this?"

I slowly shook my head. "It's not that I stopped wanting to play for the Cannons. It's that I started wanting to play for myself."

When I said nothing more, he rolled his eyes. "How very philosophical of you. Care to elaborate?"

I met the confusion in his gaze and said in the simplest of ways, "You of all people have to understand what it's like living a life in surname only. But I am looking to make my own legacy, not just live my parents'."

There was a flicker of recognition in his timid expression as our eyes locked and he just offered me a curt nod. I expected some sort of response, anything really, but he just turned away from me with a frown.

"For what it's worth," Ryleigh spoke up when Fred didn't, "I think you're going to take the Quidditch world by storm, not by name."

I met the sincerity in her gaze and offered her an appreciative nod. "Well, it's official. We're definitely back in the me-liking-you phase," I said with a smile. "And thank you for saying that."

She smiled back but the moment was interrupted when Alice smacked me on the shoulder. "Oy, I've said that to you at least a hundred times, if not a thousand, and you've dismissed me every time. Why does Ryleigh get a thank you?" she whined.

I chuckled and said, "You're supposed to say shit like that to me. It means a lot more coming from an unbiased participant."

"Well, gee, that's the last time I say anything nice to you."

I grinned sheepishly and pulled on her arm towards me. She tried to struggle but I was too strong for her as I planted her cheek and her nose and her other cheek and her lips with a kiss, all while she laughed and eventually gave in.

"So," Ryleigh smirked, "If anyone had told you two a year ago that you'd end up in a relationship, would you have believed them?"

Not even a little bit.

"Same question could be asked of you two," I pointed out.

Ryleigh lifted her gaze towards her boyfriend, who I only just noticed appeared to be paying very little attention to us. "Well?" she asked Fred with a curious chuckle.

Distracted, he looked up at her. "Er…sorry, what?"

She rolled her eyes. "James wants to know that if someone had told us a year ago that we'd wind up in a relationship, would you have believed them."

He snorted. "Fuck no. I would have laughed my arse off."

"And then found the nearest girl to shag behind the greenhouses," Ryleigh smirked.

I howled with laughter as Fred pouted. "I mean, yes, true, but did you really have to say it?"

Ryleigh tilted her head back and Fred took that as an invitation to kiss her. "This is the part where we skip back behind the greenhouses, right?" he teased her.

Ryleigh smacked him on the shoulder, though she was laughing so I took that to mean she wasn't even close to being insulted. "I have class in twenty minutes unfortunately," she groaned. "Remind me why I took Care of Magical Creatures this year?"

"I really don't know," he chuckled. "Should we head back to the castle then?"

She made a face but reluctantly pulled herself off the grass. "You two have free periods?" she asked us.

Alice and I both nodded. "Yeah, we plan to spend them doing absolutely nothing at all," I spoke with a cheeky grin.

Alice poked me in the side. "We're supposed to finish our Potions essay!"

"That was a real suggestion?" I gasped.

The other two laughed and said their goodbyes, leaving me alone with Alice, which I did not mind one bit. "C'mere," I murmured, reaching out for her leg and pulling her close to me.

She chuckled and put aside her textbook to curl up beside me. "We really do have to finish our Potions essay," she said, though she didn't look terribly concerned as she settled into the nook of my arm.

"Eh, that's what tonight is for," I murmured, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"I have a prefect meeting tonight," she reminded me.

I groaned. "Dammit, I sometimes forget that all the smart people in this school feel it necessary to get together and mock the less smart every other week."

"Oh, right, because that's all we do during our meetings, nothing of actual importance," she giggled.

I grinned at her and took that opportunity to lean over to capture her lips with mine. "Question," I murmured, brushing a stray hair from her forehead, "Why are we not currently hanging out in the privacy of your bedroom?"

She pulled away from me for a second to give me a look of slight incredulity. "Uh, I believe you were the one who suggested that because it was so beautiful outside we should spend the afternoon on the grounds."

I paused. "Can I change my suggestion now?"

She laughed and pressed her lips to mine. "If we go back to my room, there's no way I'll finish my essay."

"I'm not supposed to be too torn up about that, am I?" I teased, kissing her nose.

She laughed again and shoved me lightly before sitting back up and reaching for her notes. I took that time to pout, which she noticed but ignored. I just smiled and watched as she scribbled along the page in front of her. Her eyebrows crinkled, as they often did when she was thinking meticulously about something, and she chewed on the inside of her lip when her quill stopped halfway across the page. These were the little things about her that I had always noticed but didn't think much of until now, realizing that there was a reason I had always managed to pick up on the little things with her no matter how minute the detail was.

"Dance with me," I said at some point.

She looked at me. "What?"

I grinned and stood up off the grass. Holding my hand out to her, I said again, "Dance with me."

She stared up at me curiously. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Why not?"

"Well, for one thing, because there's no music," she pointed out.

"Eh, so I'll sing for you."

She looked at me and while trying not to laugh, said, "No one wants to hear that."

"Oy, I'll have you know I have a beautiful voi—yeah, no, I can't say that with a straight face," I chuckled, shaking my head. "Okay, new idea. I'll hum a terribly off-tune song instead. "

She chuckled and slowly shook her head at me. "Why are you asking me to dance, Jay?"

I shrugged and smiled down at her. "I don't know," I chuckled nervously. "It just seems like we only ever dance when we're feeling sad and hurt and brokenhearted. Maybe I just want one memory of us dancing when everything feels right and perfect."

She looked at me in awe, an impressed smile making it was way on to her lips. "That's not always true," she said, picking herself up the grass and standing in front of me, "We don't always save our dancing for when we need to dance it out. Keep in mind that we do occasionally find ourselves dancing at parties or in a bar."

"Those aren't perfect memories, those are drunken memories."

She threw her head back and laughed, one that put a smile on my face because I knew I wouldn't ever get enough of her laugh. "Alright, Mr. Suave," she spoke softly, holding out her hand. "May I have this dance?"

I took her hand and drew her into me, dipping my head right below her ear and whispering, "Always."

I started to hum some catchy tune, albeit off-key, and she laughed but she let me twirl her around and I dipped her and we kissed and it was as if everything was finally just falling into place. I didn't know what my future held but I knew Alice would be a part of it. And that somehow made me feel as if everything might just be okay one day.

XOXOXO

---

Ever since my conversation with Fred out on the grounds, he had been acting weird and distant and I wasn't the only one who was noticing.

"What's with Fred?" Dash asked Wednesday evening as the two of us got ready for bed. "He's been unusually quiet for the past couple of days. Too quiet. It's weird and it's creepy. And when I tried suggesting a prank on the Ravenclaws to give him a bit of a pick-me-up, get this, he turned me down."

I frowned as I stripped off my undershirt. "I don't know what's up with him. But I plan to find out."

The next morning, I cornered Fred in the bathroom as he was brushing his teeth.

"Alright, out with it. What's with you?"

Fred nearly jumped as I appeared at his side before leaning over and spitting toothpaste into the sink. "I'm trying to brush my teeth, that's what's-"

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it."

He peeked at me out of the corner of his eye before letting out a reluctant sigh. He ran his toothbrush under the faucet before placing it back in its holder. "When we were out on the grounds and you were telling me about the possibility of leaving the country to pursue your dreams, it got me thinking."

"Uh-oh. Thinking isn't a good look on you."

He glared at me. "Do you want to know what's been bugging me or should I just ram my toothbrush up your nose instead?"

I grinned sheepishly. "Go on."

He folded his arms across his body and leaned back against the countertop. "Remember when I told you that my father was looking at storefronts in France for franchise options?"

I nodded.

"Well, it's nearly a done deal. And he spoke to me over Easter Break about managing it."

I hesitated. "I feel like this is a good thing and yet you don't seem all that excited about it."

He met my gaze. "For all the reasons that you're looking to get out of the country are the exact opposite reasons as to why I want to stay."

I tried dissecting his words but came up confused. "It's too early for me to read between your profound lines so I'm going to need you to spell it out for me."

He sighed. "I've wanted to travel the world since I was a kid, get out of our tiny fame-filled bubble and be somebody," he spoke in a quiet murmur. "But who I am, who I've always been, who I always want to be is my father's son. I never strove to turn out just like him but that's what happened. You said the night of the Roast that I was desperate to win over my father's approval and you weren't wrong."

I cringed. "Fred, I didn't mean it-"

"You did," he said, shaking his head. "But it's okay because you were right. At first, the idea of going into business with my father appealed to me because he wanted me to be a part of it and I liked the idea of him wanting that. But at some point in the last few months, I realized that I'm not looking to join Weasley Wizarding Wheezes because he wants me to but because I want to. I love my father, I love my family, and I want to be a part of the business he built from the ground up. I want to carry on his legacy and I want to carry on my uncle's. They're in my blood and I wouldn't have it any other way."

He sounded so confident that it made me smile.

At the same time that it made me envious.

Because while he sounded so sure of what he wanted, I still very much didn't have a clue.

"So…" I said hesitantly, "What's the problem? You want to go into business with him and that's exactly what you're doing."

He met my gaze. "The problem is he'll be in England and I won't be."

I looked at him and it dawned on me what he wasn't saying. "You mean Ryleigh will be in England and you won't be."

He looked up sharply, the surprise evident in his eyes.

"This isn't about your father at all, is it?"

"Of course it is," he huffed.

I gave him a look. "Ballpark figure, how much of this is about your father?"

He paused. "3%?"

I laughed and shook my head at him. "I know what it's like to wonder what the future holds for a relationship," I said with a hesitant shrug, "But it's far better to wonder about it with your girlfriend than to wonder about it without."

He looked at me, the incredulousness evident in his expression. "That was bordering on overly sappy, mate," he drawled. "And what makes you think I haven't wondered about it with her?"

"Because you wouldn't be acting like this if you had."

He said nothing at first and I could practically see the wheels turning in his head before he finally let out a sigh and shook his head in disbelief at me. "For the record, I don't like that you can read me so easily."

I clapped him on the shoulder. "Sorry, but that's what you get from knowing me since birth."

XOXOXO

---

"Aw, c'mon, one hex?" I pleaded.

Alice shot me a look. "No."

"Just a tiny one!"

"With you, there's no such thing as a tiny hex."

"She makes a good point, mate," Fred spoke up from the other side of the table.

I glared at him. "Why are you agreeing with her? Don't you want to see me hex Pruitt?"

He shoveled a kipper into his mouth before speaking. "Always," he said with a shrug, "But do you honestly think hexing him in the Great Hall under the noses of the professors and the Headmistress is the way to go about doing it?"

Alice beamed and patted Fred on the head. "Good boy."

"It's better to catch him off-guard later in a random hallway where you won't get caught, James."

Alice glared at Fred while I doubled over in laughter. "I take it back. Bad boy. Very bad boy."

Fred smirked. "That's what Ryleigh likes to say about me."

More laughter from me and a groan from Alice. "Well, that's it, I officially need to cut off my ears."

"Well, don't do that. They're one of your best features," I pouted.

That got both of their attention. "My ears are my best feature?" she said, dumbfounded.

"No, your ears are one of your best features. One of. It's a tie between your smile and your eyes and that cute little wrinkle above your right eye and your legs and obviously your arse and-"

"So basically, all of my features?" she laughed, tossing a kipper at my nose.

I grinned. "I can't help that you have beautiful features."

"Alright, this mushiness needs to stop or I will be hurling my breakfast all over this table," Fred drawled, shuddering.

I chuckled and dug my head back into my playbook as the other two started up a conversation about whether or not Ravenclaw or Slytherin's beaters were better.

"Don't you have that thing memorized by now?"

I glanced up as Jax and Rose dipped into the bench opposite me. "One can never be too prepared for Quidditch, Bloch."

"What are you preparing for?" he contemplated. "It's Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw this weekend."

"For when we make that final," I huffed. "Because we will make that final if it's the last thing we do."

"Yeah, I'd rather not have that be the last thing we do," Rose sighed. "I kinda like this whole living thing I've got going."

"Really? Because you're dating Jax and that can't be too terribly enjoyable," Fred chimed in.

He ducked as Jax attempted to throw a kipper at him.

"We'll be in that final," Jax spoke firmly. "And you'll show off to the recruiters, James, and probably get a thousand pro offers and you'll analyze them for days going back and forth about who has the best players and the best coaches and who has the best chance of winning and which team you'll shine on and you'll turn down other offers before you get the one you want and-"

"Jax," I interrupted, shaking my head at him, "I put enough pressure on myself. I don't need you to do it, too."

He grinned sheepishly. "I'm just saying, in a year's time, we will all be at one of your matches rooting you on."

I certainly hoped so.

"We have to make it to that final first," I murmured, shutting my playbook and pushing it aside. "If we don't, well…"

I didn't like to think about the idea of not making it to that final because that would essentially hinder, perhaps even end, my dream to play on a professional Quidditch team come August. These recruiters made their final decisions in May and June, and they come to the Hogwarts final as a way of scoping out what talent would fit in best with their team. So if Gryffindor isn't playing in it, it would be a lot more difficult, somewhat impossible, to show the professional Quidditch world that I needed to be a member of one of their teams. I could write to them, beg them to listen to recordings, show up at open tryouts, but there was nothing like being at that final and showing them why your team was there. Why you were there.

We had to go to the finals. We just had to. I had had a lot of disappointment that year but have managed to survive it. I wasn't so sure I could survive this one last disappointment, however. My heart could only take so much.

"We will," Alice urged, smiling at me as she reached over to squeeze my hand.

I met her gaze and smiled back. "It would make things a lot easier getting to that final if-"

"You're not hexing Pruitt."

Dammit.

XOXOXO

---

"Did you see it?"

I had just sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast on Friday when I was bombarded by my sister's overly excited voice.

"Er…see what?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder. In doing so, I noticed she was joined by Rose and Albus, all of whom were wearing rather goofy grins.

Lily handed me the paper, her eyes lighting up. Which was surprising because most of the time I was being handed a newspaper, I was expecting a string of profanity over the usual salacious headlines.

"What am I looking for?" I questioned, unfolding the paper.

"You'll see," Lily said, now practically bouncing on her tiptoes.

My eyebrow shot up curiously as I glanced down at the paper. I was expecting to have to dig a little but the front-page headline jumped out at me like a very happy surprise.

Ginny Potter's Attackers Sentenced to Life in Azkaban

I jumped up, pumping my hand into the air with an embarrassing, "Whoop!"

My siblings and Rose all laughed as I reached over to embrace my sister, twirling her around in an unexpectedly giddy way. "Well, that didn't take long!" I said, returning my sister to solid ground. "I thought the trial started yesterday."

"Wasn't much of a trial," Rose said. "The guys apparently plead guilty immediately, happy to tell the world that your mother deserved it, the fucking jackasses."

I chuckled. "I couldn't have said it better myself," I said, skimming the article. It wasn't that long of one, just providing the details of the very quick trial transcript along with a short summary of the actual attack. Considering how much the press loved to twist the facts when it came to our family, they finally did a good job keeping it simple and accurate.

"Do you think there are other people out there looking to finish the job these three bastards started?" I questioned, glancing up at the other three cautiously.

The overjoyed vibe turned somber quickly. "Let's…not think about that," Albus pleaded.

I met his gaze and nodded. "You're right. This is a celebratory moment, not a depressing one. I'm glad to hear that justice was served."

"Me too!" a new voice chimed in and we all whirled around to see Roxanne and Lucy skipping up to us. A ways behind them was Hugo and Fred, both rushing into the Great Hall with wide grins and eager eyes. They scanned the room in a matter of seconds and set their sights on us before hurrying over to us with loud cheers, not caring that they were making fools out of themselves in front of the entire Great Hall.

And it made me grin. Maybe there were times that I've had problems with my family, but in the end, they were still my family and we were all there for each other through the good times and the bad. And this was definitely one of the good times. Even if it was because of a bad one.

"This calls for a celebration!" Fred said, clapping me on the shoulder. "Who brought the champagne?"

"It's eight o'clock in the morning," Rose groaned.

"So we'll mix it with orange juice and have celebratory mimosas," he dismissed.

"In the middle of the Great Hall?" she sighed.

"Why must you turn down all of my good ideas?"

"Why don't you ever have any good ideas?"

"I'll have you know that I'm the King of Good Ideas," he huffed.

"More like the King of No Ideas."

"I feel like you're hardcore bringing this moment down, Rosie," Fred whined.

She swiftly shook her head. "No," she said, shaking her head as another goofy grin filled her expression. "There's no way anything could bring this moment down."

I glanced down at the headline again, an intense amount of euphoria bubbling up inside of my heart as my own grin flooded my face. "I guess sometimes you have to fight through a lot of bad to get to the good, but maybe that's what you have to do to know what really matters in life."

When I glanced up from the paper, I was met with six identical looks of surprised fascination.

"Er…what?" I said with a nervous chuckle.

"You just still have a way of surprising us sometimes, that's all," Lily said, an appreciative smile resting on her face.

I just shrugged and rolled my eyes. "Well, c'mon all of you. Join me for a celebratory breakfast," I said, gesturing to the empty seats around me.

They all obliged and I couldn't help the goofy grin that jumped to my face, wondering when it was that I ever sat down to a breakfast with my siblings and cousins all at once.

"You know what would make this celebratory breakfast even better?" Fred spoke up a few minutes later.

"We aren't having mimosas," Rose scowled.

"Dammit."

XOXOXO

---

Friday afternoon, I was supposed to be heading to History of Magic but we were up to the point of the war in which the Triwizard Tournament took place and I had little desire to listen to the class fawn over my father's masterful triumph of getting past a dragon just by flying on a broom, so I was walking slower than usual in the halls.

I noticed Alice halfway down the hallway from me and hurried after her, grabbing her arm and quickly pulling her away from the others.

She yelped but smiled when she discovered it was me. Wrapping her arms around my shoulders, she said, "Where have you been? You missed breakfast."

"Jessup took an hour longer than usual in the bloody shower. I barely had time to shower myself," I said dismissively as I leaned over to press my lips to hers. "Skip History with me."

I didn't give her the chance to respond, overwhelming her with kisses. She finally pushed me away with a giggle. "You only have two months left here," she reminded me, though I barely heard her as I found a sudden interest in her cleavage. "Maybe you should give being a decent student a try?"

I pretended to consider it before shaking my head. "Or I could give being randy in a broom cupboard a try," I teased, grabbing her hand and dragging her halfway down the hallway towards a supply closet.

"I'm pretty sure you have not only tried to do that several times over the years but succeeded," she laughed but she didn't seem to mind it when I pulled her into the storage closet and shut the door behind us. My lips were on her neck almost immediately as her arms circled around my shoulders.

"You get, like, five minutes of snogging time," she whispered breathlessly, her back arching as my lips made a raid towards her cleavage.

"Snogging time?" I pouted, planting a kiss on her chest. "That's it?"

She pulled herself away from me to give me what I could only assume was her attempt at a stern look. "The moment my shirt or skirt comes off, that door will most likely open to reveal my father or one of your annoying cousins or another professor or a gossip-hungry Ravenclaw," she pointed out with a chuckle. "So feel me up under my shirt, under my skirt, and whatever else you feel the need to do in five minutes, but these clothes aren't going anywhere."

I considered her words carefully before breaking out into a grin. "That sounds an awful lot like a challenge," I smirked as I grabbed a hold of her tie and pulled her back towards me, my lips meeting hers once again.

"You can call it whatever you want," she murmured, her hands tugging at the back of my hair, "As long as my clothes stay—ohh."

She let out an unexpected moan when my hand snuck up inside of her skirt. I pushed aside her underwear and flicked my fingers over her clit, all while my lips danced hungrily against hers.

I dipped my finger into her opening and quickly followed it with another, more illicit moans whispering in the back of her throat. She braced herself against the wall, her legs quivering at my touch, and I continued to move my fingers inside of her while planting kisses along her exposed neck. She started to squirm, her whimpers like music to my ears, until her whole body spasmed and she let out a strangled cry.

With a smirk, I removed my fingers and leaned over to press a feverish kiss to her lips. She barely kissed me back, too focused on trying to catch her breath.

"I always did love a good challenge," I murmured as I planted a tender kiss on her collarbone.

She met my gaze and smiled. "Y'know, considering you're the broom cupboard king, I'm surprised that this is the first time we've ever done that in a broom cupboard."

I glanced down at her curiously. "Okay one, who's calling me the broom cupboard king? And two, we're not in a broom cupboard, we're in a storage closet."

"Oh, so you're the king of technicalities also?" she giggled, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and pulling herself close to me.

I smiled down at her and said, "I'm the king of whatever you want me to be, Ace."

She looked up at me in slight surprise, a small smile creeping on to her lips. "Your five minutes are up, supply closet king."

I laughed and then pouted when she slid past me to open the door. As we piled out into the hallway, we halted almost immediately at the sight of Fred and Ryleigh passing by. They both looked at us, then at each other, then back at us as they proceeded to burst into laughter.

Alice turned towards me with an upturned eyebrow. "See what I mean? Annoying cousin."

"Hey, it could be worse. It could be your father," I laughed, wrapping my arm around her shoulders from behind and pulling her into my chest, pressing a kiss to the back of her head

"You guys do realize AliCat has her own bedroom? Y'know, with a bed," Fred said in between laughs. "It's much more conducive for having sex."

"We weren't having sex," Alice scoffed almost immediately. "We were just snogging."

I smirked. That's definitely not all we were doing.

"Oh, really? Then why does Jameso here look like a giddy kid on Christmas morning?"

Alice turned her head at me and scowled. "Oh, remove that smirk from your face this instant. We didn't do anything."

"Your definition of not doing anything is rather interesting," I contemplated.

She pulled away from me and smacked me on the shoulder. "Stop giving these two the wrong idea!"

I laughed and grabbed her hand tightly, pulling her back towards me. She struggled to get away but my grip was too strong. "We didn't do anything," I said, planting an amused kiss to her cheek.

"Yeah, that's not what I plan on telling the entire school," Fred smirked, flashing us both a smile.

"You have five seconds to run before I hex you into the ground, Fred Weasley!" Alice barked at him.

"Well, that's my cue," he laughed before hightailing it down the hallway.

Alice chased after him, leaving Ryleigh and myself on our own. She turned towards me with an odd sort of smile. "I've known you for a long time, James. Not personally but we've shared classes and the pitch together and you're rather hard to ignore anywhere you go with that loud personality of yours."

My eyebrow quirked upward. "Is this going somewhere?"

She chuckled. "This might be the first time I've ever seen you look genuinely happy."

I blinked in surprise, glancing over at her curiously. I could have argued but we'd both know it'd be a lie. Because while I always played the role of the happy-go-lucky kid, goofing around and rarely taking anything seriously, even I knew that a thick cloud of unhappiness followed me everywhere.

But not anymore.

I had Alice in my life to make it better, my relationship with my parents was on its way to being patched up, my brother and I were on good terms, and I had an entire future ahead of me to look forward to.

Now, if only I could make a decision about where that future was going to take me.

Smiling down at Ryleigh, I said, "Y'know, Carver, this might be the first time I've ever felt genuinely happy."

She smiled back at me. "It suits you," she said with a shrug. "Now, should we be going after those significant others of ours or let them fend for themselves?"

"There's a good chance if I try to get involved, I'll wind up the one hexed into the ground."

She laughed and said, "Then I guess we're staying out of it."

XOXOXO

---

The school was abuzz that Saturday morning with all kinds of Quidditch gossip, partly for the Cannons-Harpies match scheduled for that evening at seven o'clock but mostly for the Hogwarts match that would determine which two teams would make the finals. Speculation was running wild. Prayers to the Quidditch Gods were uttered. Bets were being tossed around. And yet for the first time since I could remember, the Gryffindor team sat silently and tensely as we all quietly ate our breakfast.

"Damn, who died?" Dash greeted us as he slid into the bench opposite us.

"You will if you so much as paint the Gryffindors in any sort of bad light during the announcing of the match today" was my immediate response.

His eyebrow shot up. "You do realize that only Slytherin and Ravenclaw are playing today, right?"

Fred snorted. "Oh, right, because you won't mention even once the fact that today's game affects the Gryffindors just as much as it affects the aforementioned teams?"

Dash hesitated. "I won't paint you in a bad light," he said with a shrug before tossing some rashers on to his plate.

"Says the guy who outed a relationship that wasn't even a relationship at the last match," Rose snorted, shooting my roommate a dirty look.

"Hey, that all worked out for them, didn't it!" he chuckled sheepishly.

Rose rolled her eyes and went back to eating in silence.

"We have a really good shot to be in that final," Cass spoke, though the tremble in her voice betrayed her nerves.

"Yeah, we do," I agreed with an eager nod. "And I know I've been drilling the possible outcome details into your miniscule minds for weeks now, pretty much ever since we lost the last match, and I could do it again, but you'd probably all mutiny and start throwing scones at me and then McGonagall would probably come over here and ban us all from the match today for being unruly troublemakers and then we'd have to wait while the entire rest of the school watches the penultimate match and who knows how long the match could drag on for and we'd be stuck elsewhere completely helpless and at the mercy of others and oh for the love of all things Merlin, please don't throw scones at me."

The entire team had abandoned their breakfast to stare at me. There was a rather long pause before Rose glanced towards the others and said, "Did he call our minds miniscule?"

"Oh, yeah, he definitely did," Alice said with a nod.

I scoffed. "That's what you got out of my brilliantly-told anecdote?"

"You say brilliant. We say you should probably never discuss hypothetical situations ever again," Jax smirked, getting out of my way just in time before my hand could meet the back of his head.

"Let's chat about the Harpies-Cannons game instead," Lily chimed in. "Maybe that'll get our minds off of the Hogwarts match."

"If we discuss the Harpies crumbling like a shortbread cookie on that pitch tonight, you'll hex me so brutally, I'd be hanging out in the hospital wing all afternoon," I told my sister. "And I'd rather avoid that."

"Cannons are so going down."

I grinned at her. Today was going to be one hell of a Quidditch-obsessed day and I didn't hate it one bit.

Just as long as we made it to the finals and the Cannons won.

"C'mon," I said with a light chuckle, "Let's go claim the best seats in the house for this match."

None of us were done eating but that didn't seem to bother anyone as we all pulled ourselves off the Gryffindor benches and headed towards the door.

We were winding through the Entrance Hall towards the wrought-iron doors, when I heard my name being summoned.

Glancing over my shoulder, I groaned as Brooks and Callum made their way over to me with matching smirks. "Looking to get a front row seat to the downfall of the Gryffindor team?"

"No, I'm looking to get a front row seat so that when you lose the match in your usual humiliating way, I can point and laugh in your ugly-ass face."

"James," Alice murmured behind me.

"Don't tell me you're actually rooting for Slytherin?" Brooks laughed. "Don't you recall what happened the last time you played against your brother? No, correction: the last two times you played against your brother? Here's a little reminder for you: you bloody lost."

Oh, how I wanted to punch him in the face. "Hey, remind me, Brooks, who won the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match last November?"

Brooks scoffed. "So you won one bloody match. Big deal," he drawled. "We'll beat you in that final game if we have to, if you even make it there, and then once again prove to the world how much of a loser you are."

"At least I know how to keep a girlfriend happy. How's Kenley doing, Pruitt?"

The murderous look in his eye told me I was actually getting to him. I was rather proud of that.

"James," Alice snapped but she went ignored.

"You're going to bring up a girl that nearly destroyed your relationship with Longbottom before it even began?" Callum spoke up with a laugh. "Are you daft?"

Ah, so the lapdog does know how to speak.

But unfortunately, not entirely wrong.

"Nearly," I repeated coolly. "And yet here we are."

"James, let's go," Alice hissed at me, her voice wavering on the edge of angry.

I glanced over at her and knew that if I didn't want to get into a fight with her, I needed to walk away. With a reluctant sigh, I glanced back over at the two Ravenclaws and said, "I'd wish you luck today but I hope your team goes up in flames."

And with that, I slid past the duo and stormed off towards the exit.

I heard the shuffle of my teammate's feet behind me as I pushed through the door. The sun was brightly shining, the air slightly damp, and I could feel a bead of sweat beginning to form on my forehead. It was a beautiful day for a Quidditch match.

"Was that really necessary?" Alice spoke from behind me.

I slowed my pace and she stepped into line with me. "It's always necessary calling those two out on their bullshit."

She clearly didn't like that answer for the glare she sent my way was full of shade. "He was looking for a fight to get his adrenaline and his motivation going before the game and you gave it to him."

I shrugged. "He knows me well, then."

"Jay."

I cringed at the clear vehemence in her tone. So much for not getting into a fight with Alice. "What do you want me to say here, Ace?" I said, shooting her a look. "You know me. Probably a little too well. And you honestly think I have the ability to walk away from those two cretins? There isn't a chance in hell I'd ever let them get in the last word."

"You have the ability to walk away from them, you just choose not to," she countered.

"Yeah, and what exactly did I say to them that was so wrong?" I sighed. "Please, enlighten me."

"I'm not telling you that what you said to them was wrong. I'm telling you that saying anything at all was wrong," she drawled.

"Why?" I retaliated. "Because you're Miss Perfect Prefect who never seems to do anything wrong while I almost always never choose the goddamned right thing? You knew exactly who you were dating when we started this relationship so don't try to change me, Ace, because I promise you that you are just wasting your perfect prefect time."

The hurt look on her face told me I may have taken it too far.

And when she stormed off away from me, I knew there was no 'may have' about it.

I felt the presence of the rest of my team behind me as I watched Alice go. So I wasn't at all surprised when Rose said, "You're a fucking idiot, James."

That I was.

With a sigh, I jogged after Alice and caught up with her halfway to the pitch.

"Ace," I said, grabbing her arm.

She jerked it away and glared at me. "Come to insult me some more?"

I hesitated. "Nothing I said was an insult," I argued. "My tone was insulting, sure. But the words weren't. You always make the right decisions and you are perfect in every way."

Her glare didn't subside. "Yeah, and that has to do with you picking a fight with the Ravenclaw ruffians how?"

Ravenclaw ruffians. It had a nice ring to it. I'd have to remember that insult for the future.

"I wasn't the one picking a fight with them. They picked a fight with me," I reminded her.

"And you picked one right back."

She unfortunately made a good point.

"Because I can't stand the fact that I have absolutely no bloody control over today's match and those two assholes might actually get to decide our bloody future!" I blurted out.

Her mouth parted as she gaped at me. It took her a few seconds to regain her composure before she said, "You are giving them way too much power over you, Jay."

"Because they have all the power," I spoke desperately. "All I get to do today is sit in the stands and watch as everything I worked so hard on for five bloody years ends up in the hands of fourteen other people. All of those grueling practices I put into this game and the relationships I built with my teammates and the wins I helped secure, there's a chance that none of that will even matter after today. We'll all be forgotten. Fade into the background as yet another team who couldn't hold up that Cup at the end of the day and say we did that. And if that isn't enough to crush my heart and soul, then let's just remember that if we don't wind up at that final match, there's a good chance that my dreams will be just as crushed as the rest of me. Because that's when the recruiters show up. That's when they make note of the graduating players. That's when they start considering who to offer their starting positions to. That's when they see who was made for this game. And the fact that I can't be out there on the pitch today to put the fate of this team in my own hands is killing me, Ace. It's literally killing me."

She appeared to not be totally surprised by my outburst, her eyes showing a rather odd sense of bored compassion.

Slowly, she nodded as if she was musing carefully over what I said. "Hm, you'd think for someone who was literally dying, you wouldn't look so alive."

I blinked. "That's all you have to say?"

She offered me a small smile. "Lacking control was never something you knew how to handle all that well, Jay," she reminded me. "So if you thought for a single second that I didn't know how much today was destroying you, you don't know me at all. But picking fights with Pruitt and Finch and myself as your way of being able to control just a small ounce of something isn't going to change the fact that today's match is out of our hands."

I sighed and turned away. "Ugh, don't say that."

She chuckled and reached up to wrap her arms around my shoulders. "We did all that we could up to this point, Jay," she reminded me. "All we can do now is wait."

I frowned and turned away from her hopeful gaze. "That's…" I trailed off, slowly shaking my head, "That's not entirely true."

Her eyes grew inquisitive. "What isn't?"

I reached a hand up to brush a stray hair from her face and sighed. "I let our team down in our match against Hufflepuff. If my head had been in that match at all, we would have won by a landslide and that would have made it nearly impossible for both Slytherin and Ravenclaw to catch up with us now. Our fate was in our hands then and I let it slip right out."

I was slightly dismayed to see a smile creep up on to her lips. "In case you are not aware, this is a team sport, babe," she smirked. "We win as a team, we lose as a team. Don't beat yourself up over one game."

That was a lot easier said than done.

"I'm sorry for being a dick to you," I sighed.

"Don't worry about it. I've gotten somewhat used to it over the years," she teased.

I pouted, which only made her laugh. She then leaned over and kissed me, seconds before the rest of the team strolled up.

"Guess the lovebirds made up," Rose drawled.

"You owe me a galleon," Jax smirked, holding out his hand.

Rose sighed and fished in her pocket for the money before handing it over.

I glared at them. "You two bet on the outcome of our fight?"

"Of course," Rose said with a mere shrug. Grinning, she said, "Now, let's go watch a bloodbath, shall we?"

XOXOXO

---

"It all comes down to this," Dash announced. "Hufflepuff is mathematically eliminated but the Gryffindor team sits nervously in the stands tonight while the Ravenclaws and Slytherins decide their fate for them."

"Remind me to punch him in the eye later," I muttered.

Alice chuckled, linking her arm in with mine. Her hands were shaking and I had to think that her heart was probably racing as much as mine was. The match hadn't even begun and my heart was rattling forcefully against my ribcage, my cheeks flushed and my mouth dry. Internally, I was freaking out. Externally, I was just trying to showcase some semblance of normalcy, though I had to imagine I was probably failing at that.

"Gryffindor is currently in the lead with 610 points, but Slytherin and Ravenclaw both rest comfortably at 400 and 420 respectively. One of these two teams will secure that spot in the finals tonight with a win. The other has to hope they score more than nearly twenty goals tonight. It's not out of the realm of possibility, and considering both teams know what's at stake, this match could drag on for quite some time adding a lot of points to their total to send both of these teams in for a rematch in the finals."

"Remind me to punch him in the other eye, too," I scoffed.

The rest of my team chuckled as Dash dove into announcing the two teams which was right about when I decided to tune him out.

"Uh, hey, question. Who exactly are we rooting for here?" Fred asked curiously, clearly not listening to Dash either.

I glanced around at the team, all of whom looked surprised at the question. It was only then that I realized never once had any of us contemplated that question. We had been so focused on the numbers and how we could secure our own spot in the finals that it never occurred to us to consider who we'd want to play.

When Fred looked around and realized the surprise in all of our eyes, saw that none of us had an answer to that question, he burst into laughter. Which in turn set me off and then it was a ripple effect with the others until our entire team was in stitches. The surrounding students all sent us looks of bewilderment and annoyance as our laughter now was nearly drowning out Dash's voice.

"How…" I stuttered between laughs, "How did that question never occur to us before now?"

Our laughter only got louder in volume, which had my younger cousin, Lucy, telling us to shut up.

Hey, I never said anyone in our family had manners.

"Okay, let's think logically about this," I said as my laughter died down. "On the one hand, we already beat Ravenclaw and lost to Slytherin so we might have a better shot against Ravenclaw. On the other hand, bloody Jessup and Finch are on Ravenclaw and I only have two words for that: fuck them. On yet another hand, my brother is on Slytherin and I swear if he beats me again, I'm throwing myself off the highest Tower. And on an entirely different hand, if Jessup beats me, I'm throwing him off the highest Tower."

My teammates all stared at me until Jax spoke. "So…you have four hands then?"

I ignored another round of laughter from my team. "I can't choose. Someone else decide."

"My sister is on Ravenclaw," Fred reminded me.

Glancing at him, I said, "Is that a reason to root for them or against them?"

He hesitated. "I literally have no idea."

I glared at him. "Thank you for providing your completely useless opinion once again."

"Well I'm rooting for Slytherin," Rose spoke up firmly. "My best friend is on that team. I can't root against him."

"Ah, I didn't know that you and Malfoy were besties now!" I teased.

I ducked as she attempted to take a swing at me.

"I'm rooting for a low-scoring game," Alice chimed in with a shrug. "At this point, that's the only thing that matters."

Glancing around at the group who were all slowly nodding in agreement, I shrugged and said, "Low-scoring game it is."

And then both teams were in the air and the match began.

It took only fifteen minutes for me to realize that these two teams were out for blood. If I thought Gryffindor had a rivalry with these two teams, it was nothing compared to how they were going at it with each other. Brooks kept egging the Scamader twins on and at one point, every single chaser on the Slytherin team got slammed with an unsuspecting bludger. Reese was taunting the Ravenclaws and throwing them off their game. Isla and Roxanne followed each other everywhere they went. Scorpius was using Callum for target practice. It was getting ugly very quickly.

"There's a good chance one of these players winds up dead today," Fred murmured, wincing as Hattie's arm got clipped by a bludger.

"You're exaggerating," Lily chimed in.

"Oh!" Dash grimaced from the commentator's booth. "Callum Finch takes a bludger to the leg and blood is flying everywhere!"

Lily frowned. "Okay, maybe you're not exaggerating."

Fred merely chuckled as the Ravenclaws called a time-out.

"Oh, how I'd love if that oaf gets pulled from the match," I murmured.

"You're dreaming if you think he'd let that happen," Alice sighed.

She was unfortunately right as the whistle signaled the end of the time-out period and Callum flew into the air.

"Fuck," I groaned.

Slytherin scored. And then Ravenclaw. And then Slytherin again. Ravenclaw's next shot got blocked. Slytherin's next shot got blocked. Ravenclaw scored. Slytherin scored.

"And with that absolutely beautiful goal by Albus, we've got ourselves a 100 to 90 point game with Slytherin in the lead!"

"Ugh, that was a beautiful goal," I groaned. "Damn him."

Alice looked at me with a light chuckle. "He does know his way around a Quidditch pitch. Must run in the family or something."

I made a face but didn't have time to respond as Dash's next words stopped us all short.

"SNITCH IS SPOTTED!" Dash's voice shrieked.

Our entire team got on its feet as we watched Roxanne and Isla share a quick glance before taking off.

"Oh, someone just catch the damned thing!" Fred whimpered.

I found myself silently cheering on Roxanne and knew in that moment that I wanted to play against Ravenclaw in the finals. Slytherin beat us in last year's finals, they beat us in this year's regular season match, and they've been known to beat us in the past. I'd love to take them on and shove a win in their faces but a loss against them would be soul-crushing.

"Roxanne Weasley is there! She's got an inch on Isla Zabini!" Dash screeched. "She's almost—OH! Logan and Scorpius team up on her and she gets annihilated by two bludgers! She loses the snitch! She loses the snitch!"

"Fuck!" were the words that spilled out of Fred, Jax, and my mouths simultaneously.

"THE SNITCH HAS DISAPPEARED! THIS IS STILL ANYONE'S GAME!"

With matching groans and sighs of utter resignation, our team dropped back on to the bench to watch the rest of the match unfold.

"You were rooting for Roxanne, weren't you?" Alice's voice spoke quietly beside me.

I glanced over at her, surprised that she picked up on that. "Yeah, I was," I muttered. "Call me a coward, but I'm not interested in another James vs. Albus situation, even if we are on better terms than we ever were before."

Alice leaned over and placed her chin on my shoulder. "That doesn't make you a coward," she said, shaking her head. "We all unfortunately know that Slytherin has a habit of beating us even though we are the better team."

I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "Thank you for saying that."

She just smiled and leaned over to kiss me before we both returned to watching the match.

"And Weasley and Zabini let the snitch go for a third time in this match!" Dash called out an hour later. "These two teams are playing to the death!"

"Fucking hell, I think these teams might actually be sabotaging us," Fred swore.

I had had that very same suspicion after the second time both Roxanne and Isla let the snitch slip out of their fingers. Now that it's happened for a third time, it was no longer just a suspicion.

"They're both looking to make it in the finals and neither are looking to play us," I said.

Glancing around at my team, I could practically see all of our hearts sinking into our stomachs in unison.

"They can't hold out forever," Lily chimed in. "Eventually, that snitch isn't going to disappear anymore. It's going to start taunting them, urging one of them to catch it. And one of those two girls is going to listen."

Let's just hope it's Roxanne.

"Hattie Wilkes soars one past Pruitt, who does not look happy!" Dash cried out. Glancing over at the keeper, I chuckled in slight amusement as he proceeded to scream at his team for being incompetent.

If I was to offer an opinion, the only incompetent one on that team was him.

"And the Slytherins take a bigger lead with 200 points to Ravenclaw's 180!"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I moaned into my hands. "Ten more points for Slytherin and they're tied with us and you know what that means."

We all knew what it meant but no one said it aloud.

Because since Slytherin had beat us this year, if our point total winds up tying with them, they would move on to the finals and we wouldn't.

And none of us wanted to think of that possibility.

"Well, uh, maybe we should start rooting for Slytherin to catch the snitch. With them getting that additional 150 points instead of Ravenclaw, we're in," Jax suggested.

I glanced at him and started to really consider that option.

"Ravenclaw only needs to get two more goals before they overtake our lead," Alice spoke softly.

I met her gaze. "And then it won't matter which team wins or loses."

"We're getting ahead of ourselves!" Fred spoke hastily.

"Fred, this match has already lasted four hours," Rose groaned. "Neither of these teams are going to give up now."

"Stop jinxing it!"

I just frowned and went back to listening to Dash announce the match for if I didn't, I was fairly certain my heart was going to burst right then and there and someone would be cleaning up my fragmented body off the metal bleachers.

"And Greengrass makes another incredible save! That girl is on fire tonight!"

I'd have to remember to thank her later if this at all goes in our favor.

'If' being the incredibly taunting key word.

"WE'VE GOT ANOTHER SNITCH SPOTTING!"

Our team got up on to its feet again as I cried out, "I DON'T CARE WHO GETS THAT SNITCH BUT SOMEONE BETTER BLOODY CATCH IT!"

There was some amused laughter from some of the spectators behind me but I ignored them as I eagerly watched Roxanne and Isla race towards the snitch.

"Weasley and Zabini are neck and neck as they race across the—oh, shit, Reese lets in a goal! Finch scores! Ravenclaw is up to 190 points!"

"Oh, you have got to be bloody kidding me!" I shrieked.

"Weasley and Zabini are weaving through the crowd! That snitch is staying put! It's planted right outside the Slytherin's goalposts just waiting to be captured!"

"It doesn't matter who catches it," Fred spoke gleefully.

"It does if one more team gets a bloody goal before it's caught," Rose snapped at him.

"I thought I told you to stop jinxing it!"

As if on cue, Dash's voice stopped commentating on the whereabouts of Roxanne and Isla to exclaim, "ALBUS POTTER SCORES ON PRUITT! IT'S 210 TO 190 IN FAVOR OF SLYTHERIN!"

It was as if the loud cheers and the whistles and the excitement faded around us at the realization that Slytherin was tied with our point total. My team and I stood there in silence, frozen in shock and fear. None of us spoke, our faces displaying the horror we felt in our hearts.

Because if Ravenclaw caught that snitch and won, Slytherin would therefore be tied with us and that meant that Gryffindor would not be playing in the finals.

Maybe I wasn't interested in playing against Slytherin in the final but if the other option was not playing at all, bring on another Gryffindor-Slytherin final.

So all at once in a complete frenzy, the entire Gryffindor team started rooting on Slytherin at the top of our lungs.

"COME ON, ISLA!" Rose screeched.

"CATCH THAT SNITCH, ZABINI!" Jax pleaded.

"SLYTHERIN FOR THE WIN!" Cass prayed.

"KNOCK MY SISTER OFF HER FREAKING BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO!" Fred exploded.

"DON'T LET RAVENCLAW CATCH IT!" CJ shrieked.

Alice shouted something and then Hugo followed by Lily. Their shouts and shrieks were a jumbled mess of desperation.

But me? I just stood there motionless, unable to say anything as I watched my Quidditch school days slip out of my own fingers.

I felt regret, scolding myself for not stopping to enjoy the match we played against Slytherin, the last match I may have possibly played as a Hogwarts student.

I felt panic, afraid that I wouldn't get the chance to show the recruiters just what I'm made of, to prove to the world I was meant to be a world-class Quidditch player.

I felt disappointment, upset with myself for not cherishing my final moments on the pitch with Alice and with Fred and with Rose and Hugo and Lily, all the people I grew up playing this game with from when I was just a kid, and with Jax, who I became friends with because of this game, and with Cass and CJ who helped make this year's team one of Gryffindor's finest.

And I felt like crying because it never occurred to me, not once, that everything I worked so hard for could be cut so short, taken away from me in a single moment that I had no control over.

I felt Alice's elbow jab my ribs and I yelped, turning towards her with a quizzical look. "Isla is gaining on her!" she shouted in my ear.

I returned to the reality in front of me as Roxanne zoomed closer and closer to that snitch, with Isla right on her tail. Roxanne swerved to the right when Scorpius sent a bludger her way. Isla ducked as Lorcan hit a bludger at her.

Why hadn't I enjoyed my last year more?

Roxanne and Isla knocked into each other, their brooms shaking in anticipation.

Will the recruiters consider me for a starting position without seeing me play again?

Roxanne dodged a bludger and Isla flew past her.

Will I lose out on my chance to play professional Quidditch because of this?

Roxanne pulled ahead and then Isla did.

Will we ever get to prove to everyone that the Gryffindors have the best Quidditch team?

They were neck and neck, both of their hands stretching out.

WILL GRYFFINDOR BE IN THAT FINAL?

Alice's nails dug sharply into my arm but I barely took notice, the loud thumping off my heart nearly too much to bear as I tuned out Dash's frantic shouting as he attempted to dissect what was happening in front of our very eyes.

Time stopped.

So did my heart.

And then Isla Zabini proudly held the snitch up.

Which meant only one thing.

We did it. We were in. Gryffindor was going to the finals.

I don't think I've ever screamed that loud in my life as Alice practically jumped me, her shrieks causing me temporary deafness as I held on to her tightly. Her legs wrapped around my waist as our screams intertwined, the rest of the team jumping up and down and shouting breathlessly.

"WE'RE GOING TO THE FINALS! WE'RE GOING TO THE FINALS!" Fred's screeches filled the sky.

Dash was screaming into the mic that with the final score of 770 for Slytherin and 610 for Ravenclaw, it would be Slytherin and Gryffindor advancing into the finals, Ravenclaw having missed out on their chance by a single goal.

One single goal.

Was luck on our side or what?

I noticed Brooks dismount and chuck his broom across the field, the anger clear in his eyes. I saw Callum try to talk to him but the Captain just stormed off in a huff. And I just grinned. Even though I'd be forced to play against my brother (again), watching Brooks Pruitt lose might have actually been worth it.

The Slytherin side of the stands was loud but it didn't compare to the Gryffindor side. It wasn't just my team who was shrieking in excitement. We had every single Gryffindor on their feet, hooting and hollering, in anticipation of what I knew would be christened the match of the century.

And I knew that when the excitement of today faded, the nervous would all hit us once again that we would be playing a team that always managed to get the upper-hand. But for now, I was going to enjoy this moment for what it was. I couldn't predict the future. I could only live in the present.

I leaned over and planted a kiss against Alice's lips, who eagerly kissed me back and then placed her forehead against mine. "We're going to win," she whispered, ignoring the loud cheers around us. "I can feel it."

I hope so, Alice. I really hope so.

XOXOXO

---

"Congratulations."

The team and I were traipsing back to the castle when I heard the familiar voice. Grinning, I met the pride in my father's eyes. "Oops, I forgot you would be here," I said apologetically. Turning to the rest of the team, I said, "You go on ahead. I'll meet you back in the common room."

"We're going to the finals, Daddy!" Lily said giddily, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Yes, I do believe I heard Dash say that," my father chuckled. "How do you feel about playing Slytherin again?"

Lily stopped flailing about and looked at me. "That can of worms is all you, bro," she said, clapping me on the shoulder before chasing after the rest of the team.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Dad. "I feel like we're going to beat them," I said vaguely.

When I said nothing more, his eyebrow popped up. "That's it? That's all you're feeling?"

I hesitated before shrugging. "I spent so much time worrying about competing with my brother that Quidditch at some point stopped being fun and became a chore instead. But I want to enjoy it again. And I still have one last chance to do so. So of course I want to win. And I know I have a team that can help me do that. But what I really want is to just go out there and have fun and be okay with whatever happens in the end."

My father looked both surprised and impressed. "That's a very mature way of looking at it."

I made a face. "Whoa there, no one said anything about me being mature."

Dad smiled at me. "I'm saying it now."

I met the sincerity in his gaze. "You'll be there rooting for me in the finals, right?"

He hesitated. "Er…well, hm, this is awkward. I've got both my boys going for that final Cup. Any chance you'll let me stay neutral?"

"You also have your daughter going for that Cup," I growled. "Two against one. You've got to root for Gryffindor."

"Maybe I'll wake up very sick on that day. Or maybe I'll be out of town on a business trip. Or maybe some mass murderer will decide to try and take out an entire Muggle village."

My eyebrow popped up. "You're hoping for a mass murderer to take out an entire Muggle village just so you wouldn't have to choose sides?"

"I said maybe a mass murderer will try to take out an entire Muggle village," he argued. "I'd get there just in time to apprehend him and save the day before he can do any real damage."

I stared at him. "There might be something not right in the head with you, Dad."

"Your mother's been saying that for years."

Holding back a laugh, I said, "Root for whoever you want or don't root at all but I promise you, Dad, that it will be Gryffindor winning that Cup in the end."

He hesitated and surreptitiously glanced around him before leaning in to say, "Don't you dare tell your brother this, but I really do hope you get everything you've ever wanted, James. You deserve the Cup after all the hard work you've put into this game."

I grinned triumphantly. "Are you just saying this because you're trying to make up for six years of neglect?"

He sighed. "Are you going to assume that any nice thing I ever do or say to you is for bribing purposes only?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

He chuckled, his head swinging lightly from side to side. "If your brother asks, I'm rooting for him to win, too."

I let out a fake gasp. "Traitor! So much for making up for six years worth of neglect."

My father sighed. "I think you got your mother's overdramatic genes," he drawled. Glancing over his shoulder with a grimace, he murmured, "Er...don't tell her I said that."

I clapped my dad on the shoulder. "You're getting good at this whole keeping-things-from-your-family thing.'

"I'm not keeping things from them. I'm just...not telling them everything," he said with a sheepish grin which only had both of us breaking out in laughter. As his died out, he just shook his head in amusement and said, "Well, go on. Get back to that common room and celebrate the evening away with the rest of your team."

I grinned and after saluting him mockingly, I started to take off towards the castle.

"And hey, James?"

I glanced over my shoulder. "Hm?"

He smiled. "I'm proud of you."

That was the first time in my entire life I actually felt like he meant it.

"You know what?" I said with my own smile. "I'm proud of me, too."

XOXOXO

---

I made it back to the common room about an hour before the first game of the Harpies-Cannons final best-out-of-seven series was expected to start. I walked in on Fred forcing shots down the team's throats and I laughed, swiping the bottle of firewhisky from him and taking one long swig. We continued to drink and we cheered and we danced to forty-five minutes of upbeat music before Fred switched the radio over to the match and blasted it throughout the common room, making it known to everyone that he didn't give a shit if there were people there who weren't interested in listening.

The Harpies-Cannons match went a lot quicker than the Ravenclaw-Slytherin match, ending only after an hour when Cannons seeker, Clyde Franklin, caught the snitch and the Cannons won with a score of 230 to 100. My sister was disappointed but the celebrations continued and she soon got over it.

The music was loud, the drinks were flowing, and the students were energized. You would have thought we had already played in the finals and won the Cup the way we were behaving. I couldn't stop smiling, stealing kisses from Alice every chance I could and playing several drinking games with the guys and taking my female family members for a spin around the dance floor. Neville had come in twice, once at midnight and once again two hours later, to plead with us to get to bed but no one listened. And eventually he told his daughter that if any critical incidents were to occur, he'd hold her personally responsible before walking out for one last time.

We did catch a curtain on fire with a rather animated game of Exploding Drunken Snaps and a table was broken when a bunch of sixth years (including Rose, strangely enough) climbed on top of it to dance to a particularly lively song and the floor became completely stained with spilled alcoholic drinks, but no one was injured, so I considered that a win in my book. And with the help of magic, these incidents were soon forgotten.

At some point in the night, memories evaded me and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the floor of the common room with Alice curled up beside me. Letting out a groan at the massive headache I was sporting, I took a quick scan of the room. Rose, Jax, Harley, and Jett were somehow all smushed into one couch together, which, for the record, did not look comfortable. Dash was passed out on another couch, his face covered in lewd drawings. I had a feeling I might have been to blame for that; it certainly sounded like something I'd do. Fred was nowhere to be found and I had a feeling he had the good sense to drag himself up to bed. Lily and CJ were looking far too cozy underneath a blanket in the corner of the room with Hugo and Rayne close by. Other students were scattered about and I chuckled to myself, knowing that last night had been one hell of a party.

I winced as Alice stirred, peeking an eye open and looking over at me. "Hi," she murmured.

I draped my arm around her side and pulled her towards me. "Hi," I said, planting a kiss on her lips.

She scrunched her nose up. "You smell like you took a bath in firewhisky."

"You look like a hippogriff tried to plait your hair," I teased right back.

She ran her fingers through her knotty hair and shrugged. "I don't have the energy to care."

"That makes two of us," I said, kissing her nose. "And for the record, you still look beautiful."

She smiled at me and placed her head in the nook of my arm. "Doubtful, but I'll take the compliment," she giggled.

I grinned and leaned over to kiss her once again. Our lips glided tenderly, both of us enjoying the simple affection that came with that early morning moment. As I glanced down at her, her lips curled upward just slightly in appreciation, it suddenly hit me that I wasn't just happy because of Quidditch, I was happy because of her. She was the one thing in my life I got right and I didn't think I'd ever be able to thank her enough for that.

I knew then in the deepest crevice of my heart that I was undeniably in love with her, almost painfully so. My heart ached for her in ways I didn't even think possible. I didn't just want her or love her, I needed her. I needed her in every day because she is the one thing that always kept me alive. When life was crumbling around me, when tragedy struck, when my heart was breaking, she was there to tell me that everything would be okay. And I believed her because I had no reason not to. She made the hard things bearable. She made the tension less tense. She made stress feel stress-free. She could solve all of my problems with a smile or a hug or a dance or a single look. She was the answer to any questions I've ever had. She was everything. She was my everything.

And if there wasn't a world of fear that filled my heart at the very prospect of telling her everything my heart felt, I might have blurted it out right then and there. But every time I even considered it, the fear took over. Fear of losing her. Fear of letting that last piece of my guard down. Fear of giving away my heart. Fear of being reminded why I once thought having a heart was a better way to live. I had never been scared of what was in my mind, it had always been my heart's desires that numbed me. And I wish I could say that Alice had a way of making my fears disappear but unfortunately she only enhanced them.

It was a horrible thing to believe but it only meant that the love I felt for her was even more intense than I realized.

I hoped one day I might stop being a coward. I hoped one day I'd find the strength to tell her just how much she meant to me. I hoped one day the fear and the panic wouldn't take over my heart. One day. But I knew that she wasn't' going anywhere and neither was I. So really, what was the rush? One day I'd be ready to say those three magic words to her, but for now, I was fine with just holding her in my arms and enjoying the moment.

Kissing her forehead, I said, "I realize that we are probably both incredibly hungover and we definitely don't look our best and we're lying on a not-so-comfortable floor, but I have to say, this moment right here? I'm pretty sure it doesn't get better than this."

Her eyes met mine, adoration sparkling vividly in her blue irises, and with a smile, she said, "You know what, Jay? I think you might be right."

And as the rest of the world slumbered around us, I leaned over and sealed that already perfect moment with a kiss.

XOXOXO

---

Alice and I retreated upstairs to my room after that and without bothering to change our clothes, we plummeted into my bed and fell into a deep sleep.

She was gone when I eventually climbed out of bed, just after noon. Glancing over at the other beds in my room, I wasn't surprised to find that both Fred and Dash were completely passed out as well. Parker was awake revising but I paid him no attention as I crawled out of my bed and scurried over to the bathroom, where I proceeded to drown myself in a much-needed shower.

When I emerged from the bathroom, Dash and Fred were quietly moaning with each other about how they were never going to touch firewhisky again.

"I give it a day," I snorted, running a finger through my wet hair and searching for a clean shirt in my trunk.

"Why are you up right now?" Fred whimpered.

"I've got a lot to do today," I said with a shrug. Smelling the navy shirt in my hands and deeming it to be okay, I tossed it over my head.

"The day after an epic Gryffindor all-night rager, you have a lot to do?" Dash drawled in disbelief.

"Yeah, one, I plan on pounding on Jax's bedroom door for a healthy batch of pepperup potion," I tossed back his way.

Dash and Fred exchanged a look. "That might actually be your best plan ever," the latter mused.

Chuckling, I added, "And then I have to get to the library. Besides homing in on what strategies we should use for our final match, I want to finish researching the pros and the cons of each professional Quidditch team. Now that I know we will be in the finals and the recruiters will be there also, I need to figure out which teams actually interest me. And then I plan to write to my top ten teams, pleading with them but not in a desperate way yet in a way that'll convince them that it would be in their best interest to show up at our final match to watch little ol' me in superstardom action. After I head to the Owlery to send off those letters, we've got practice at 6:00 and I don't care if you're hungover, you will be at practice and you will like it, and then of course we've got the second Cannons-Harpies match tonight. Looks like a busy, busy Sunday for me."

Dash and Fred looked at each other once again but it was Parker that spoke up. "As much as I appreciate the play-by-play of your rather pathetic Sunday plans, you could just, oh I don't know, leave without giving us the bloody play-by-play."

I already had a throbbing headache. I did not need Jessup adding to it. With a glare, I said, "Oh, yes, how utterly pathetic of me to have actual future goals while your laughable self will never get a job because let's face it, there isn't a single interviewer out there who won't find you contemptible with just a single look at you."

The glare on his face was one full of fury. "You think you're all that because you can fly on a broom and throw a ball in the air?" he sneered at me. "You're going to wind up some washed-up alcoholic has-been by the time you're twenty-five with not a single job prospect in hand because you never bothered to care about actual academics. Your so-called athleticism can only take you so far, Potter."

"That sounds an awful lot like jealousy, you big-eared, insecure, brown-nosing, pompous twat," I barked. "Everyone is going to know my name one day and all you will ever be is the scum on someone's shoe."

He looked like he wanted to murder me but slowly collected himself. There was still anger in his eyes but a small smirk came to rest on his lips, one I did not like in the least. "Of course they'll know your name," he cackled. "All you are and all you'll ever be is Harry Potter's son. Don't pretend as if you'll ever make a name for yourself that isn't associated with him because I guarantee that you won't. Like I said, you'll be nothing but a has-been just like your father."

I lunged at him. "Why you little-"

"Okay, break it up!" Fred shouted as he and Dash rushed off their bed to drag me away from Parker's bed before I could beat the shit out of him.

"You will never amount to anything, Jessup!" I snapped.

"Look who's talking, Potter!"

"James, go," Fred barked, shoving me towards the door. "Don't pick a fight now. You have too much to lose."

I knew he was right but all I could see was red, wanting nothing more than to bash Parker's skull in and watch as the light faded from his eyes.

Based on the look on his face, he very much felt the same about me.

As I slowly tried to calm myself down, I glared over at the prefect and said, "Maybe I'll be done with Quidditch by the time I'm twenty-five but at least I'll have something to look back on and be proud of. But you? You're going to end up a lonely, unsuccessful, miserable little scumbag with not a single accomplishment in your life to keep you going. Good luck in the future, Jessup, because out of the two of us, you're definitely going to need it."

And with that, I turned on my heels and stormed out.

XOXOXO

---

"Picking fights again, hm?"

I glanced up from the letter I was writing to one of the Australian teams, the Woollongong Warriors, as Alice slid into the seat opposite me. "I was wondering when Fred would blab to you."

She shrugged. "He's not wrong, y'know. You do have too much to lose."

I sighed. "I know. Why do you think I walked away?"

"Because Fred and Dash formed a barrier between you and Parker?"

I hesitated. "Okay, that's one of the reasons."

She chuckled. "Just be careful, Jay," she said, her voice unexpectedly tender. "There are a lot of people in this school who are out to get you and they'll stop at nothing to see you fail."

I blinked in surprise as I gaped at her. "What are you…" I trailed off with a light shake of my head.

"People are already talking," she pleaded. "Pruitt wants your head on a platter. Finch is already bragging about how you'll be the next one shoved down the stairs. Sadie is boasting about sharing insider strategic information with your brother. And Parker would love to see you lose once again. You've made a lot of enemies over the years, Jay. And I guarantee they'll be out for blood."

Her words should have perhaps frightened me, if even just a bit, but all they did was further motivate me. "Do you know what all of those people have in common?" I drawled.

She sighed. "What?"

"They're losers."

She frowned. "Jay-"

"And I don't mean that in the oh-they're-pathetic-and-sad-and-cowardly kind of loser, though that isn't wrong either. I mean that in the they-literally-lose-everything-they-do kind of way. Finch and Pruitt have never won the Cup and only made it to the finals once. Sadie is nothing but a spiteful quitter. Parker can't keep a girl around to save his life. They have nothing and they are nothing and I am not scared of any of them."

I could see the flicker of irritation in her eyes. "I never said you should be scared of them," she pleaded. "I'm just asking you not to go looking for a fight with any of them."

Concern was dripping from her every word and in a way, I understood completely. I had worked so hard to get to where we were and we both knew how devastated I'd be if something happened to take it away from me. She was just looking out for me the way she always has been.

"I won't," I said, reaching across the table for her hand. "The only thing I'm focused on right now is that final match. Nothing else matters to me."

She offered me a lopsided smile.

Hesitating, I added, "Oh, except you."

She looked at me and laughed. "Nice save," she teased, leaning over the table to kiss me. "So you doing anything important right now or do you want to follow me back to my room where we can celebrate Gryffindor being in the final the proper way?"

My eyebrow rose as I met the suggestive look on her face. "Ohhh, I so want to do that," I moaned as I glanced down at my Quidditch research. "But any chance I could take a rain check for tonight?"

She blinked. "Holy shit, are you actually turning down sex?"

"I know, I'm just as surprised as you are," I whined, "But I really want to get these letters out today."

"Letters?"

I explained that I was in the middle of researching the top teams and was planning to write to them and request their recruiting presence at our final match.

When I was done, she reached over and seized my list of pros and cons, skimming through it. "There are a ton of good prospects on here."

I nodded.

"Cannons appear to be the number one choice."

I met her gaze slowly before offering her another nod.

"Is it your number one choice?" she asked softly.

I wish I had an easy answer to that but I didn't. "I don't know," I murmured. "I still don't know if staying in England is really what I want. But…I don't know if leaving is what I want either."

I could practically see the thousands of questions mulling about in her head but she just handed me back the list and said, "You'll figure it out, Jay. You always do."

I certainly hoped so.

"That's it?" I moaned. "That's your great advice?"

Her upper lip twitched. "There's no advice to give here, Jay. I think you know what you want but sometimes, we're just too afraid to want it. But I can't want it for you. This is your life. You need to live it the way you feel is right."

I had a feeling she was subtly telling me that I've wanted to be a Cannon for my entire life so why was I throwing away that dream now? And she's be right to wonder that because it was something I was wondering, too. But so much of me was still so interested in exploring a new world elsewhere, in finding a way to be a version of me that no one had ever seen before. But could I do that, could I actually become something while practically living in my own backyard, a backyard that was built by my father and not me?

I wish I had the answers but I didn't. I just hoped I'd get them soon.

"All I want," I spoke hesitantly, "Is you."

She met my gaze. A smile appeared. "I appreciate you saying that but we both know you want more than that."

I paused. "You wearing nothing but a whipped cream bikini?"

I ducked as she tossed a closed inkwell at my head.

"Good luck getting me naked later now," she smirked as she pulled herself out of the chair and started to walk away.

"I'll bring the whipped cream!" I called out after her.

I could have sworn I heard her laughing as she walked out.

I continued with my research once she was gone. I dwindled down my prospective teams to the top ten, four of which were in the UK and six that were not. It seemed like a well-balanced list of teams, all of whom had many winning titles to their name along with an impeccable list of accolades, and I would be lucky to be a chaser on any of them.

I started on my letters, talking myself up in a tactful way and suggesting they stop by our final match to see me in action. Asking the teams in England to do so was easy. Asking those outside of the nation to make the long trek to the mountains of Scotland was more of a gamble. I had been at enough finals—whether playing in them or watching from the stands—to know that most of the recruiters came from local teams, mainly the British and Irish teams with the occasional French or Italian team thrown in if they were really interested in drafting someone. Most of the overseas teams don't go hunting for talent in the European pool of players when most of those players wind up on European teams, which is why if I really was seriously considering moving away from England, I had to be the one to search for interest.

If I was seriously considering moving away.

Which I still wasn't sure I was.

I was halfway through that last letter when the next interruption occurred.

"And so we meet again."

I glanced up from the letter with a frown as Albus strolled up to my table. "Only because you walked up to my table."

He rolled his eyes. "Not what I meant."

I looked at him. "I know."

Hesitance flitted across his eyes before he pulled a chair out and sat down.

I was really hoping he wouldn't do that.

"What do you want, Al?" I sighed.

He frowned and turned away from me with a sigh. "I don't want you to hate me again, James."

Those words threw me for a loop. "What?"

His lips pursed but his eyes remained away from mine. "If you don't get that Cup, and I'm not sitting here saying that you won't, but if we win, I don't want it to be the reason that you start resenting me again."

I could see the true concern in his eyes and I felt guilty for knowing that I had always been the cause of that. "I can't say I'd completely enjoy watching you get another win, especially with my last chance to do so, but I won't hate you for it," I spoke softly. "It's just a game, Al."

He looked at me, his mouth parting in clear skepticism. "'It's just a game, Al?'" he repeated in clear disbelief. "The guy who has singlehandedly made his obsession with the sport his entire life is telling me now it's just a game?"

I grinned sheepishly. "What can I say? I've matured."

"Really? I don't see it."

I rolled my eyes. "Hardy har har," I spoke sarcastically. Glancing at him seriously, I added, "Look, the next article that comes out in the Prophet is going to go crazy for a brother vs. brother rematch. They'll cover the drama of it all all on their own so I have no reason to add to that. And more importantly, I don't want to. So how about I focus on my team, you focus on yours, and in the end, may the better team win. That's all there is to it."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. He appeared to be thinking over my words, clearly looking for a lie in my words, but seeing as I meant every one of them, I wasn't at all surprised that he came up blank himself.

"That's it?" he eventually said.

I shrugged. "That's it."

He still looked unconvinced but he pulled himself out of the chair anyway. With a nod, he turned towards me hesitantly and said with an unexpected smile, "Well, whatdya know. Maybe you have matured."

While he walked away, all I could do was grin.

That was the last thing I remembered before waking up in a hospital bed with every inch of my body screaming in pain.

XOXOXO

---

A/N: I loved all the cutesy stuff in this chapter. I bet you did too right before I dropped that final cliffhanger in your lap. Yes, I'm aware just how evil I am.

Next up: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED