Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Round 1
Chaser 2
Chudley Cannons

Prompts used:-

1. (quote) "The excitement of dreams coming true is beyond the description of words."- Lailah Gifty Akit

6. (setting) Room of Requirement

7.(character) James Potter 1

Chaser 2: The Sage- Goal: knowledge OR Fear: deception

Word count: 1412 words

LOVE AND LORE IN A LIBRARY

Books. They were all around her. Some were open, some had quills lodged between the pages, some were stacked one upon the other. And in the midst of them sat Lily Evans, with a book in one hand and her wand in another.

Her hair was tied up in a bun, her eyebrows were knitted together in concentration, and her robes were flung aside in a heap, leaving her in only her jumper and skirt. This was a sight no one had ever seen because the girl always made sure that she was prim and proper in front of others. People had yet to see her carefree and unrestrained self like she was now. And this side only came out when Lily was alone, hidden from other people.

Lily was hidden in her safe haven where she could nurture her passion, her interests.

She was in the Room of Requirement.

How she had landed upon it, no one knew. Not even herself. All she remembered was that when she was walking through the seventh floor corridors in her third year, she had been thinking hard about the proposition that Professor McGonagall had given her when the room had materialized across the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

The room had been a lucky discovery for it gave her a place to escape from her life, her world. Not that she was unhappy with it. Lily loved her life, her friends, her lessons, even her professors.

But especially him. The boy she had met in her first year. The raven-haired boy whom she longed to call her own. The boy who she had thought insolent and reckless. The boy she dreamed of going out with, but never could, in fear of getting turned down. It was common knowledge that James was very popular in the school and countless girls were head over heels in love with him. Girls, who Lily thought were even more prettier than her.

Anyway, even though the girl thought that she could not have a better life, she yearned for time to herself. More specifically speaking, Lily had one more dream.

An entire library she could call her own.

Time she could use to gather as much wisdom, and as much knowledge as she could. And that had come true, which was more than anything she could ask for.

So, there she was. Living one of her dreams. Encompassed by books, a paradise of words.
It was a Saturday. They had no classes. So, Lily being Lily, she was spending her day in the Room of Requirement. The girl had been there from dawn, and she was still engrossed in one of the books.

Lily jerked up at a sudden noise. The distinctive creak of a door opening.

"What in the blazes was that?" Lily muttered. She got up quickly, her wand at the ready. It was said that the Room of Requirement morphed itself to one's need. Now, however, it was not aiding her. She knew the unknown creak had been caused by an intruder.

"I thought the room was reserved only for me," she muttered angrily. The girl cautiously proceeded forward and was just turning the bend when suddenly a voice spoke from behind her.

"Lily?" the phantom speaker cried out. Lily whirled around and was almost firing out a spell, when in a blur, she recognized the messy hair of the boy she had come to know and love.

"James, what the hell are you doing here?" she gasped out.

James fired back, "I could ask you the same thing. You have been gone since this morning. You didn't even turn up for breakfast. So, as you can see, I set out to find you." He paused and then asked, "What are you doing here? What is this place?"

Lily sighed and then started, " It's the Room of Requirement. It's where I do my reading and everything. Which reminds me that you shouldn't be here. You can't."

James responded, "Well, tell that to the world. I am here, aren't I?"

Lily pressed on, "James, if you had read your material, then you would know that the Room of Requirement only opens up when you desperately need something. Moreover, this room was specially made for me. So, how the hell are you her?"

James replied, "Didn't you hear anything I said? You have been gone since morning. The girls didn't even know where you were. So, being the good friend I am, I got a little worried. I set out to find you and this room appeared right opposite to Barny."

He paused and then continued, "There, are you happy now?"

Lily bit back a retort and turned around, fighting to keep the smile off her face. Insolent or not, he sure was cute when he was annoying.

She continued without turning back to face him."Well, come on now. If you are here, why don't you see the entire place?" She walked swiftly towards the back of the room, making sure that James was right behind her. When they finally reached the spot where Lily had been sitting, James let out a breath. "Whoa! This room may even be bigger than the library." He plopped down on the couch and asked Lily, "How can you even spend so much time in this place?"

Lily smiled wistfully and looked at the well arranged shelves in front of her. "How can you not?" she asked. "Every book here has a story, a history, and a future. It has value. It imparts knowledge no one else can give. Whenever I read something, it's like another dream, no matter how small it may be, it comes true." Lily chuckled and then looked at James again. She expected him to carry an expression of scorn, but no. He was looking at her in wonder and also something Lily could not put her finger on.

Finally, James spoke. "You are amazing, you know that? And believe it or not, even a thick person like me understands that. You are beautiful. I don't think there is anyone like you in this school."

Lily looked down at the ground and blushed. She quickly tried to hide it, but James had noticed. He changed the topic at once but could not remove the smile from his face. Lily once again sat down on the ground and picked up her book.

"What's it about?" James asked.

"Transfiguration" Lily replied. "Look at this." She pointed her wand at James and muttered something under her breath. At first, nothing happened. Then, out of nowhere, James saw himself surrounded by flickering blue flames. He yelped and realised that the flames were not hot.

As suddenly as they appeared, the flames vanished. Lily burst out laughing at James' befuddled face and, after a moment, James joined her too. After some time, both of them stopped laughing and James watched as Lily read through the last pages of her book. Finally, she got up and, with a wave of her wand, the books flew and sorted themselves into the shelves.

"So, I suppose it is your goal to read each and every book here?"

Lily replied, "It is. Though I don't think it is possible, because the more books I finish, the more appear."

James nodded and both of them made their way to the exit.
Lily abruptly stopped midway and then asked James, "I still don't understand. How were you able to enter this room? I thought it was only made for me and would not let anyone else in."

James replied, "I guess it wanted me to find you." Lily nodded, even though she had not gotten heads or tails of the whole scenario. They were just making their way out of the room when she remembered that James had actually seen her like this. She immediately turned red at the thought and realising that her hair was still in the bun, she immediately put out one hand to take out the pin which was holding her hair up when James caught it.

"You can leave it in, you know. You look even more beautiful that way." He flashed one of his boyish grins at her and briskly walked out of the room.

Lily looked at the retreating form of the boy and smiled.

The beginning of her dream was coming true. Maybe knowledge could finally be accompanied with a little bit of love.

Loads of thanks to my team for betaing my story