Remus looked flabbergasted. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I am lost." Sirius looked thoughtful at James. "I think I know where you are getting at." He said. "A couple of nights ago we found something out about McGonagall." "What was it?" Peter asked. "Well, she can change into an animal. A cat I believe." Peter's mouth fell open. "A cat?" He asked. "Yes. She is a registered animagus. Usually they don't teach us about this stuff until our third or fourth year, but James and I have our ways of finding things out." Sirius grinned. "And I also do remember James saying: Oh that is so cool. I wish I could do something like that!" James nodded. "And what is a better excuse than our best friend? You never hurt any animals do you?" Remus shook his head. "Nope, but all the animals flee if I get close." Peter said: "Well, we will take the risk for that. But does anyone know how to become an animagus? I guess it is a long and difficult process. We might need to include the Ministry in this. But we are not off age yet, so what now?" Sirius stood up. "You worry way too much, my friend. We don't need to tell anyone, we will just do it ourselves! We can find it. We just need to find the right book in the library." Remus laughed. "Well, that is where you probably will be stopped. If books like that exist at Hogwarts, they are probably in the restricted area. And no way that a teacher is going to give you their signature for something like that. You better make up a very good excuse." Now James stood up. "Now you worry too much, my friend. We don't need permission for the restricted area. We will just in there and find that book ourselves." James and Sirius were smiling like crazy now, while Remus and Peter were looking confused.
"My dear Remus and Peter. Please behold!" James went through his trunk and grabbed something. "Let me introduce you to my cloak of invisibility." He drew the cloak around him and disappeared completely. Peter gasped for air and Remus was looking in awe at the spot where James just disappeared from. "Merlin's beard! Is this why the two of you sneaked off so often since we got back at school?" Remus asked. "You were gone so many more times compared to last year and the times you got detention were so low! Now I know how. You never get caught because of that thing." Remus looked with a mixed look in his eyes at the cloak. "It's so effective for so many things, but also quite dangerous."
"Well, let's go out with the four of us tonight. We will go to the Restricted Area of the library and find the book that we need." Peter said happy. "I don't know if it covers up all four of us, you know. We can try, but three might be the max." James said. "But let's find out." The four of them got together and James draped the cloak around them. If barely fitted, but if they bend over and did not walk to fast it could work. "Okay, we will go with the four of us tonight. But we really need to be careful and watch out. I don't want Pringle to find us and that I lose my cloak." And that night they waited until the common room was empty before leaving it. The four of them sneaked to the Library and after a 45-minute search they found two books that could help them with their plan. They returned to the tower and decided to wait until the weekend. There was only one day left with classes and this weekend they would read what the procedure was to become Animagus.
The Friday went by really slow and finally the classes were over for the day. They quickly ate their dinner and headed upstairs. They locked the door and opened the books. "Okay, let's read! What do we need to do!" All four of them read both parts in the books twice. They were quiet for at least an hour and Remus was pacing around. Sirius was lying on his bed and James was trying to vision everything in front of his eyes. Peter was still reading and scratched his head now and then.
After a while, Remus spoke. "So… If I understand it right. It will take us forever? How in Merlin's name are we supposed to get all this? We can get most of it, but what about the rays of the moon? With no interruption? And then an electrical storm? That can take like forever. You guys cannot do this! This is way too dangerous. Where will keep that potion? And saying those things every sunrise and sunset? Impossible. We will get caught! They will recognize it and know what we are up too. No guys, this is way too dangerous!" Remus was now almost in full panic-mode. "Remus, chill! We'll be fine! We can probably find more information about the next electrical storm when we check the weather forecast. And have to start at least one month prior, but a little bit more. Yes, maybe we achieve it next year or the year after, but that's fine! Again, we just have to make sure we will do everything in the amount of time that is necessary and no to extend it that much. Trust me, we will be fine!" Sirius was trying to comfort Remus. James looked at his friend. His face looked sad. "Remus, trust us. We can always quit if we want too. It might be too difficult for us or impossible. But at least we'll have fun trying!" Remus shook his head. "It's not that. It's just that I am the reason why you three even think about doing all this stuff. Do you have any idea how many rules we'll break? We'll get expelled for sure if we get caught. And for what exactly? Me? I am not worth it. I am a monster, anyway. I don't understand why you just won't admit this and stop being friends with me."
Peter started arguing with Remus. "Why would you say something like that? We don't think you are a monster!" Remus didn't look like he believed Peter. "Come on Remus, from all four of us you are probably the one who would never hurt anyone. But you might need to wrestle for that spot with Peter." Sirius said. "And furthermore, do you honestly believe that we would stop being your friend because of this?" Remus nodded. "Of course I did. My parents always tried their hardest that no one would find out about me. They tried to give me at least some kind of childhood. But with them being so careful and afraid that people would find out. It kind of taught me that I needed to do the same. Do you honestly think that I can find a job after Hogwarts? If someone would hire me, they would eventually find out about my condition and I would lose that job. I don't think I will ever succeed in society." James shook his head. "That is rubbish. My dad owns his own company. He will get you a job if you need one." Remus smiled a little now. "I honestly thought that you would hate me once you would find out. And I hoped just for the best that you three would keep your mouth shut about it and not tell anyone else. The idea of leaving Hogwarts and losing my friends would be too much for me I guess. I never even thought about going to Hogwarts. Let alone have friends here."
Peter stood next to Remus. "Do you really think that we would stop hanging out with you because you are supposed to be a big scary monster? You know about my biggest fear, right?" Remus laughed a little. "Yes, you are afraid of cats. It is kind of silly." Peter nodded. "It is, but somehow I cannot stand around those animals. They are unpredictable. And yet, my mum still got a cat. She told me the only way to get over my fear is to face it. I still don't like them, but at least I can be around them and accept them." Sirius started laughing really hard. "Peter, did you just compare a werewolf to a cat? That is cute. You would totally freak out if you would see McGonagall as a cat. But he has a point though. I honestly believe that you would never hurt anyone, human form or werewolf. We trust you Remus and we care about your well-being. Someone who loves chocolate as much as girls do, fold their socks neatly before going to bed and showers with their flip-flops on I don't consider them much as a danger or threat." James nodded. "Remus, we are friends and we will always be friends. Whatever happens to us we will have each other backs." Jokingly James added. "So I want you to stop complaining and enjoy the fact that we still want to hang out with. We want it so much that we even decide to break the laws. No, not just the rules of Hogwarts but literally the laws from the wizarding world." Remus couldn't help but smile. "Fine, I will stop complaining. But you I do think that you have no idea what you are risking." Sirius grinned. " You think that, don't you? Well, I think we are risking getting expelled from Hogwarts first thing. Then after that we would probably need to go to a hearing at the Ministry of Magic and explain our actions. We would be lucky if you just get a fine and our wand would be snapped into two. But I think, especially since we wanted to be unregistered animagus, we could get send to Azkaban as well. But I have no idea if they would do that to children." Peter saw a bit white and green in his face. "Azkaban? They wouldn't send us there, would they? We are just children, just like you said." Sirius shrugged. "I think we would be fine with the Azkaban situation. But we would probably lose our wands and never get a job or something like that." Sirius said it so relaxed that James had the idea that it would not bother Sirius. Somehow he felt a great respect for his friend. He honestly lived his life his own way and did everything he wanted to do. That was the kind of life that you should live. People would always ask things from you and want something from you. There is always someone to keep in account with you. Having an attitude like that was kind of a good thing. Who knows when your life would stop? It could be suddenly and when you would life your life the way you want did it really matter how old you would get?
"We need to make a list of everything that we need and try to get it. I have the feeling we need to raid Slughorn's provision cupboard for this as well. Then we need to make a sort of agenda when we need to do what and the time it takes. That mandrake leaf is easy, but keeping it in your mouth with spitting it out or swallowing will be hard. The potion will be fine I guess. But doing that incantation every single day at sunrise and sunset is kind of difficult. Especially since all of us, not Remus of course, need to do it. And then we will need that grass, which will be a search but I am sure we can find it. But the most difficult thing will probably that electrical storm. How often does it occur? We need to try and find more information about it. When was the last one? Are there any predictions about the next one? We might get a bit of an idea about when the next electrical storm might be so we know when to start with the mandrake leaf and potion. If the next electrical storm was in six months, we could be ready by the end of the year. Before that even. But somehow I don't have the feeling that we will be that lucky." Sirius stood up. "Yes James, that is the spirit! And as long as we won't get caught we are lucky enough. How about we will write all of this down and get those books back into the Restricted Area?" Peter nodded. "I can go with you if you want." Sirius nodded. "Let's go. James, you are okay with the fact if you borrow your cloak right?" James nodded. He was fine with it. He trusted them enough to know that they would take care of it.
Sirius left with Peter. Remus sat on his bed and looked out of the window. "Thank you. I never expected this from any of you. I would never ask this as well." James sat down in front of Remus. "We will not let you fall, mate. We are in this together. Do you have any idea how cool this story will be on birthdays? And when I can tell my children? Or even better, just show them?" James lay down. "What animal would I be? What do you think? I think I might be a big, strong lion! Or an eagle! That would be so cool. I could fly!" James started fantasizing about flying in the sky. "You could also be a pig. Or a spider. Or something slow, like a turtle." Remus started teasing him. "I never thought about it. You could end up as a elephant as well! That would be crazy! There is no way to hide you then. I think I would rather be a spider or a turtle, then an elephant." James and Remus were discussing the pros and cons of animals when Sirius and Peter returned.
The next few days it was kind of a little bit less exciting that Remus was a werewolf and the plan was to become unregistered, illegal animagus. James had to train everyday now for Quidditch. There were only a few days left until James his first day. He had the feeling he should feel nervous about his first game, but he didn't. He knew there was a big chance they would win. The team was playing great together. Slytherin had to bring their A-game if they wanted to beat Gryffindor. James was now packed with homework, practice and classes. As soon as he was done practicing he showered, did his homework and went too bad. Sirius was complaining now that James had almost no time at all to roam the castles at night with him. James really wanted to, but somehow the feeling of missing the first Quidditch match was enough to keep him in his bed at night. "Sirius, go with Remus or Peter tonight if you want so badly. I will do that stuff again after tomorrow. I won't miss the first match because I got detention." James said to Sirius the night before the game. "How about you miss the second match?" Sirius said. "You could trade your detention for another Saturday right?" Remus sighed. "I don't think they will fall for that. It is a punishment. And what better lesson to teach someone to take away something he really wants?" Sirius rolled his eyes. "Fine. I will go out tonight with Peter and Remus." Peter swallowed his water too fast and started coughing and Remus just shook his head. "Not going to happen, mate. I need to finish this and then I will go to back. And by the way, I wouldn't want to miss the first match of the season as well." James nodded viciously. "Why would you want to miss seeing me play? I will be the MVP of the game." Sirius rolled his eyes again. "Sure mate. There is no denying you are good at Quidditch, since you are the only second year student that made the team. But MVP? James shrugged. "Big chance! My goal is to score enough times that we will win even without the Snitch." Peter finally stopped coughing and said with a raspy voice: "I am sure you will do excellent tomorrow, James." James smiled. "Thanks Peter! And here, have some chocolate. It will help your throat." Remus looked up from his essay. "Do you have chocolate, James?" James smiled. "Yes, I do. You want a piece as well?" James gave Peter and Remus a piece of a chocolate frog. "I already have this card. Someone wants Dumbledore?" James asked. Sirius nodded. "You can give it to me. Regulus just started collecting those." James handed the card to Sirius.
"How is your brother? I barely see you two talking." James said. "He is fine. He is enjoying his life here. He has some nice friends. His homework is always done on time he says. And apparently my mum does send him stuff like candy." Sirius his eyes became darker and his face got a painful expression. "But that is fine. I don't even want anything from my parents. All they give me are problems, comments on my hair and headaches. It is probably because he is in Slytherin or something you know. I try to avoid home as much as I can, but somehow even in the limited time I am there they still make sure I don't forget that I was sorted into Gryffindor. Well, sucks to be them! I rather am in any other house than in Slytherin. I might even leave Hogwarts if I had to switch to Slytherin." Sirius sounded so resentful that James had not the heart to try and make his friend feel better. It was probably the best to leave him now. He looked at Peter and Remus and he saw that they thought the same thing. Sirius changed the topic. None of the four friends knew what to say to him right now so they were kind of relieved. "Well, guys. But how about we go check out the inventory from Slughorn soon for that potion? We should probably wait until at least Sunday. James here has his big game tomorrow." James was taken with surprise. How could he have forgotten that? That was literally the only thing on his mind the last few days. Probably the idea of trying to become illegal animagus was a bit more exciting than his first Quidditch game. James shook his head. "I need to go to bed soon. Tomorrow they want to meet very early to make sure we still understand the strategy. I swear guys, I dream about that strategy now." Remus smiled. "I am sure that is good enough to win the game."
Lily was answering a lot of questions from her fellow Gryffindors in the common room the next day. The evening before when she returned from Slughorn's party she had filled her friends in on all the events. And when she came to the part of talking with the prime-minister everybody was in awe. "O Merlin, Lily! I cannot believe that you talked to the prime-minister. That is amazing!" Alice said. Mary and Marlene were very impressed. And of course, once Mary knows something the rest of Gryffindor knows as well. She loves to gossip. Everyone knew about Lily's encounter with the prime-minister the next day after breakfast and everyone wanted to know what she was like. "Could maybe next time not tell so many persons?" Lily sighed after answering a kind of harsh no to the 8th person who asked if she had could get his or her sibling a job at the ministry. Mary smiled apologetic. "Sorry Lils. I only told Benjy and Bertha. They heard me talking about it with Marlene." Marlene rolled her eyes. "The only other person in Hogwarts who likes gossiping more then you know is probably Bertha. If your plan was to make sure 80% of Hogwarts was up to date before breakfast then you indeed told the right person." Mary laughed. "Hey, it was never said that it should be a secret. Did you want it to be a secret, Lily?" Lily shook her head. "Not really a secret. But I never expected all this attention. I really wished it never happened right now." Lily hated being in the center of attention because of something like this. "I just met her, you know? That could happen to anyone. There were also other people at that party, who probably talked to her as well." Marlene smiled at Lily. "Yes, big chance! But we don't know anyone else. And with all those these things happening outside of Hogwarts it is kind of a big deal that you met the person who is responsible for protecting us all. And I think you can put it more into perspective that you met someone famous because you are muggle born. We grew up with prime ministers. She is one of the few woman who ever made it this high. It was a big happening when she was elected and this time most of us were old enough to understand it." Lily nodded. She understood that it probably meant a little bit less to her compared to the rest of the school. She was only a part of the wizarding community for over a year and she still had a lot to learn about it.
"You are right. How are things on the wizarding world right now? I read the Daily Prophet of course, but sometimes I have the feeling that they don't cover everything." Alice nodded her head. "They don't indeed. My mother usually send me letters with more information when she thinks that the Daily Prophet is not publishing everything. I love her to bits, but she is driving me nuts with all these pieces of paper. At least 60% is just her opinion about that event." Lily laughed. "You should let me read them sometimes." "Well, my mum and dad both work at the ministry. They don't send me letters to tell me about stuff that happens. That would jeopardize their jobs. But once I am home they usually fill me in on most of the stuff that happened to them." Marlene said.
"My dad works in Diagon Alley. He has one of bars there. My mum helps him on the weekends and during the week she is at home. They get a lot of guests who are telling my parents a lot of stuff. Even stuff that they shouldn't know, but hey, they are drunk when they confide my parents. My parents barely talk to me about it. They say it is too dangerous for me to know and they act like they also know nothing. But they talk with each other about it and I eavesdrop on them." Lily laughed. Of course Mary did that. She was so nosy! "So I hear a lot of stuff from both sides. Most of the people who are drinking there are just like us, but sometimes there is some high-level minister or someone who is agreeing with everything that is going right now. And they start blabbing once they consumed alcohol. I think it is getting a lot worse than we really think out there." Mary looked out the window where the sky was grey with clouds at the moment.
Lily shivered a little bit. She read the newspaper sometimes, but they made it seem like they had everything under control. Once a week you read about a family that went missing or someone who was found that, but they never mentioned that someone was behind it. Usually they made it seem like it was something, like a heart-attack or a disease. "So what is exactly what is going on right now, out there? How did this all happen?" Mary, Alice and Marlene looked at each other. Marlene started. "Well, it is quite a story. But there are so many questions and plots. Nobody exactly knows how all of this happened. I only know this because of my parents. They told me some stuff about why all of this happening right now. And it all starts with this one man who gained a lot of followers all of the sudden. According to my parents these are his friends from Hogwarts, but they are not entirely sure. That is because my mum and dad used to work with some of them and according to some gossip they might still be working with some." Lily was a bit in shock. "How could that be? I know about the missing persons and the murdered families. How can somebody who openly supports murder and kidnapping still work at the Ministry of Magic?" Marlene smiled sadly. "I know, right? You are nothing but right. But it is not that simple. There are a lot of wizards who think in pure-bloods, blood traitors and muggleborn. Sadly they consider only pure-bloods to be good enough to have the 'luxury of magic' and they think it is a shame that we have to hide our abilities for muggles.
They are sure that muggles are stupid and ignorant. How else could they not see magic? It happens in their lives almost on daily basis." Lily thought about her parents and was about to protest. "Sst, Lily. Let her talk. You will understand." Alice said softly to her. Lily closed her mouth and put her hand down. "Thank you Alice. Of course this is not true. Whoever read the 'The Philosophy of Mundane: Why the Muggles Prefer Not to Know' sees that it just something that they naturally ignore or find a logical explanation for themselves. But whenever someone uses that book as an argument, the pure-blood families hit back with comments like: It is just a book, it is just an opinion. And sometimes they even mention their book. The 'Pure-Blood Directory', which lists the 28 remaining pure-blood families. They think because their last name is mentioned in some book that some once wrote they are superior due to their blood status.
Do you know, Lily, how Eugenia Jenkins became Minister of Magic?" Lily shook her head. "I always assumed there were elections or something and she was chosen." Marlene nodded. "Yes, in some sense. She replaced the previous Minister Nobby Leach. He had to quit due to health reasons. But I know that there are rumours going around that he was poisoned by someone, who wanted to get him out of the way. Disagreeing with the fact that someone like him had that much power and also power over the Pure-Bloods. He was muggle-born, you see. And this is probably true, since they choose Eugenia Jenkins and that was a surprise. Nobody expected the minister of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to become the Minister. But she was neutral and everybody knew that it was not her who was plotting against Nobby Leach.
In her first few years she seemed sympathetic towards the minorities and she spoke for social justice. Minorities started to demonstrate and riot. They demanded right and one of the famous marches was the one from the squibs. Can you imagine being a pure-blood wizard and all those people who are not worthy of magic are demanding more rights and probably getting them? It was their worst nightmare. And that is how many pure-blood supremacists who did not join the ranks of the followers of, what we call now, the Death Eaters. Nonetheless they gave their wholehearted support to the cause that this guy is trying to achieve. To rinse the wizarding world of anyone who is not pure-blood, who is a blood traitor, a Mudblood or just not worthy of magic." Marlene looked sad when she finished the story. Lily had a lot to think about.
All of these things happening right now while she was safe at Hogwarts. But how safe was she really once she would be done with school? She was no Pure-Blood and probably worse than a blood traitor in the eyes of the Pure-Bloods. And how safe was her family? Alice must have seen that Lily was worried. She put her hands on Lily's knee. "Lils, there is no need to worry. You are perfectly safe here at school. And there are not only people out there who are attacking traitors and muggleborns, you know? There are people fighting against the Death Eaters with the blood traitors and the muggleborns and they are with a lot you know. There is a fight going on and it might get even worse before it gets better. But at least there are people fighting." Lily smiled. She gave Alice's hand a soft squeeze. "Thank you! You are right. And who knows, maybe once we are done with Hogwarts there will be peace again!" Alice smiled and nodded. "Yes, indeed! We still have more than five years to go. A lot can happen in five years."
The following week was filled classes and the story about the threat that terrorized the wizarding world was kind of being pushed back into Lily's mind. Hogwarts made you feel perfectly safe and isolated you from the outside perfectly fine. Slowly the weekend came closer and the castle was filled with tension. The first Quidditch match was about to happen and it was a big one. Gryffindor against Slytherin. Lily did not really care for Quidditch that much. The few flying lessons they got in their first year were her least favorite lessons. But somehow with the whole school so impatient and busy with the match made her look forward to see Gryffindor win.
That Saturday morning Lily woke up from someone who was panicking their room. She opened her eyes and saw Mary pacing up and down, while throwing her hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to support Gryffindor when I misplaced my scarf? I cannot find it anywhere!" Lily sighed and put her head back down. She looked to her left and saw that Marlene and Alice were sitting in their beds watching Mary with amusement. "Mary, calm down. First of all it is just a scarf. Second of all, it is probably somewhere here. So just take a deep breath." Alice said while rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Mary grumbled something under her breath that was probably not very nice. Marlene nodded. "You are honestly the worst person to be around in the morning before breakfast." She jumped out of bed and went into the bathroom. Mary opened a closet and screamed a little bit. "Yes! I found it!" Lily rolled her eyes. "Okay, so if you just had looked before you started getting all worked up I would still be asleep right now." Mary sat down in the chair next to the door. "Yeah, you are right. I am sorry girls. I am just so annoyed in the morning." Alice looked at Lily and both of them started laughing. "We know!" The both of them said at the same time, which made them laugh even harder.
After almost an hour the four of them were dressed and ready to go down to get breakfast. In the hallway it was quite clear that Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff supported Gryffindor as well. Dirk Cresswell got his hands on a Gryffindor scarf and made a bandana out of it. Bertha Jonkins and her friends made a banner in the colors of Gryffindor with the words: Go Gryffindor Go! There was one table in the colors of Slytherin. All the way to the left in the Great Hall was the Slytherin table and they were chanting some song that they made up. Lily sat down next to Alice and she loaded some eggs and toast on her plate. At that moment James, Peter, Sirius and Remus sat down next to the four of them. "Morning, ladies!" Sirius said smiling at them. Mary giggled a little bit. Lily felt that Marlene had just kicked her shins. "Good morning. Are you ready for the game, James?" Alice asked. James nodded. "Yes mam! More than ready to kick some Slytherin butt!" Lily looked at James to see if he was nervous or not. He seemed very calm, but it was his first game and he was the youngest one on both teams. His fingers were not shaking, he was laughing with Sirius about something and he was able to eat. James looked sideways and noticed Lily looking at him. He winked at her and smirked a bit. Lily felt her cheeks flush red and she quickly looked down at her plate. Somehow unable to eat another bite.
The boys quickly left the Great Hall again. James had to be there quite early to discuss some last minute moves. Lily looked at them leaving and sighed. "What is it?" Alice asked. "Nothing! Just thinking about the game. I hope we win!" Alice nodded but immediately distracted by someone behind Lily. "Hey girls. Ready to go?" It was Frank. Mary looked at him. "I didn't know you would join us today." Marlene kicked Mary again. "Mary, shut up. You can't talk to people like that. He is more than welcome, of course." Marlene smiled at Frank. "Sorry, she doesn't mean it like that. Sometimes the words that leave her mouth are probably such a surprise to her as it is to us." Frank laughed. "It's fine. I was invited to go with James, Sirius, Peter and Remus anyway but I wanted to see if maybe Alice wanted to join me. Maybe just the two of us." Alice giggled and she flushed red. "Sure. If you are okay with that, girls?" Alice asked, her eyes looking hopeful. "Of course, Alice! Go and enjoy!" Lily said. Looking how happy Alice was right now there was no way they could say no. Alice stood up and left while talking with Frank.
Quite soon after Alice left Lily, Mary and Marlene were walking to the Quidditch field as well. It seemed like the whole school was going to watch. "Hopefully we'll get a good seat!" Mary said. They climbed the stands and found half a row empty in the middle of the stand. "Yes, right next to the goals of Gryffindor. This is good!" Mary said happy. Slowly the stadium filled with people. After 10 minutes the commentator's voice filled the stadium. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! And welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season. This is Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Are we ready to welcome the players with a warm welcome? First up are the players of Gryffindor!" The Gryffindor team entered the field in their red robes. Almost the whole stadium exploded with a great thunder of people clapping, stamping and yelling. The whole team waved at everyone. "And now give it up for the Slytherins!" Only the teachers and the Slytherins in the public were applauding for the team. A few Gryffindors were even booing.
And then the game started. From the first second it was already excited. The Slytherins had captured the Quaffle and were heading for the goals of Gryffindor. Lily saw them getting closer and closer. But the Chasers of the Gryffindor team were right behind them and speeding up. "Come on guys! Get that Quaffle back!" Mary yelled. One of the girls was right next to the Slytherin Chaser. He looked at her and tried to push her of her broom. She embraced herself, pushed back and somehow managed to get him to give up the Quaffle. It fell down and Lily saw that James dived to the ground to get it. He was speeding up. With the speed that James was approaching the ground it almost seemed like he would not be able to get the Quaffle in time. "Oh no, oh no, oh no! I can't watch!" Marlene was covering her eyes. "He is going to hit the ground!" Lily's breath was stuck in her throat. "Come on, James!" She whispered. And at the last moment he caught the Quaffle, pulled his broom back up and shot towards the other side of the pitch. "Yes!" Mary yelled while pumping her fist in the air. "Lily, you can breathe again and Marlene, you can watch again. I think he did with his fingertips." Lily's breath escaped her mouth. She saw how the three chasers were racing towards the goals on the other side of the pitch. But the Slytherins were right behind them, trying to get there in time. James passed the Quaffle to his right, shot down and threw the Chaser behind him off his game. The other Chaser started circling around her and James was just beneath her. There were three possibilities for the Quaffle. The Chaser kept it herself, she either would throw it up to her teammate or drop it for James to catch.
She looked over her shoulder to see where the Slytherins were. They approached their goal faster and faster. There were only a few seconds left. The Slytherins pushed their brooms to the limits and shot forward. The big guy stretched his hand to reach the Quaffle and he was almost there. "NOW!" The girl yelled. And the three Gryffindors shot op, zigzagged, shot down and were with the three of them next to each other now. They shot as fast as a bullet to the goalposts and their distraction worked. The Slytherins followed them up and to the right. But lost them when they zigzagged and shot down. They couldn't keep up and couldn't prevent that Gryffindor scored their first goal.
"YES!" The stands with the Gryffindor supporters were yelling, applauding and stamping. "Ten – zero for Gryffindor! After an amazing move from the Gryffindor team. This is tactics and it worked. They might win if they can keep this up. The Quaffle is now with the Slytherins who are racing towards the goalposts of Gryffindor. Oh, that was so close! A Bludger just missed one of the Chasers of the Slytherin team. It was a good try though. It looks like the Keeper will have to stop them from scoring." Lily was trying to keep up with everything but everyone was moving so fast. Before she knew it the Quaffle was shot at one of the goalposts and the keeper was just in time to kick it away. "And a last-minute safe from the Gryffindor Keeper with his foot. They got lucky this time! Gryffindor back with the ball. Potter is away and he ducks and avoids a Beater from the Slytherins. He has a head start on the rest of his own and opposing team. That kid is fast! But watch out! AUCH! That has to hurt. Potter has been hit with a Bludger in his stomach." Lily saw how James collapsed forward, dropped the Quaffle and could hardly stay on his broom. "NO!" She yelled. "Violation!" Mary shook her head. "That is allowed, Lils. That is where the Bludgers are for unfortunately," Lily shook her head. "But that is dangerous! What if it knocked him off his broom and he fell?" Mary shrugged. "That is Quidditch! Sometimes people get severely injured. They know what they sign up for."
The game was going head to head. Slytherin scored three times after each other. Gryffindor only once. The score was now 30 – 20 in favor of Slytherin. "And it seems like the Seeker of the Gryffindor team has spotted the Snitch! He is speeding up. Yes, he definitely sees something that the Slytherin Seeker is missing!" Lily looked at the Seeker. He was speeding up fast and she saw it as well. The Snitch was halfway the middle goalpost of the Slytherin goals. He was closer than the other Seeker. Unless the Snitch flew away there was no way he wouldn't catch it. "One of the Beaters sends a Bludger his way, but he easily dodges it. It is only a matter of a few meters now. He stretches his hand. And …
YES! He caught the Snitch! The match is over. Gryffindor wins with 170 against 30." The crowd was going wild! Lily was jumping up and down with Marlene and Mary. "We won, we won, we won!" They chanted. "Tonight there will probably be a great party in the common room. I can't wait for it!" Mary said. And she wasn't wrong. That evening the whole common room was decorated in the colors of Gryffindor. Somehow James and Sirius managed to get a lot of food and drinks. Everybody was having a good time, chatting and laughing. The Gryffindor team were the heroes of the evening. Not only did they win their first match, but they won from Slytherin. "Take that, little snakes!" Sirius says loudly. The whole common room starts yelling and laughing. "To the best Quidditch team that Hogwarts knows!" Sirius says while lifting his drink up in the air. Everybody raised their glass to salute the team. "Cheers!"
Author note: First of all I am sorry that is has been so long since I posted something. Things has been hectic since the summer holiday. I needed to make some major decisions about my education, final thesis etc. Also I experienced writers block a couple of times. I find it quite hard to write from both perspectives. So I might change that. What do you guys think? Should I stick with writing from both perspectives? Or if I should choose, which one should I do? Both have their pro's and cons.
The reason why I started this fanfic is because I would love to have a story out there about the Marauders and their years at Hogwarts and the once they got to experience after that. Mostly I ship Jily, but they aren't a couple until their seventh year. I love writing their stories, their experiences at Hogwarts with each other and away from each other. I would love to explore the relationship Lily and Severus had, mainly because I read a lot of times that Lily could have loved him if he didn't had such an appreciation for the Dark Arts.
I also want to apologize since there could be a couple of mistakes in there. Especially since it has been so long since I posted anything, so it could be that things sometimes don't add up for example. Just bear with me, the big picture is more important.
Please comment what you think, what you like, if you would love to see something, if you have a question or just have feedback. I appreciate it! If you want to make sure you know when I post something again, please follow/fav me!