"What the fuck is a Slug Club?" Giselle asked Lily one day at lunch.
They were perched at the Gryffindor table helping themselves to a rich bowl of parsnip and carrot soup when an unfamiliar third year Slytherin dropped two letters in front of them and left without uttering a single word. Giselle immediately tore it open, secretly intrigued by the Slytherin's mystery, but her hopes fell when she realised it was from her potions master. Lily perked up slightly at the question and read her own letter.
"It's Slughorn's prestigious club, it's an invitation only type of thing," she explained as she buttered her bread, "It's an OWLs age and above club because he supplies us with alcohol."
It was Giselle's turn to perk up and her smirk got bigger. "Alcohol, you say?"
"Alcohol and loads of very important people that you don't want to be drunk around," reasserted Lily, hammering away at her friend's intention to spend her time at their meetings getting wasted, "Slughorn has a Christmas party every year and he invites all of the past Slug club members in order for us to make connections with future employers. It's a huge opportunity, Elle, he has links everywhere."
Giselle sipped her chilled juice and pondered over the possibility of Slughorn being friends with famous Quidditch players. "Interesting…" she glanced down at the invitation to their first meeting and decisively nodded to herself, "I think I could make an appearance, I guess he wants to speak about Father but I'm sure I can deal with it. I assume our Head Girl was an avid Slug Club member last year?" she guessed.
Lily didn't hesitate and agreed with a firm nod, brushing her glossy hair out of her eyes with a smug half-smile. "Well, duh."
"Oooh we're gonna have so much fun!" said Giselle, suddenly giddy at the thought of letting loose at the far away Christmas party. "Who else is a part of this Slug Club?"
"Only a select few, no one that will give you any trouble, don't worry," said Lily, winking at Giselle before glancing down the table towards the other seventh years. The pair chose to sit as far away from their raucous housemates as they could but Giselle hoped they would hurry up and finish their food as Sirius was still far too close for her liking. He was the main culprit of the noise like usual, consistently making those around him erupt into piercing howls of laughter then rewarding his success with a snog from Marlene - the whole scene made Giselle feel very sick and she refused to look at them in case she saw her soup again.
Lily spotted the sour pout on Giselle's face and huffed, turning to face her in order to block out the disgusting display of affection. "Ignore them," she muttered.
"That's a tall order, Lils, they keep looking over here when they-," Giselle's lips parted when she caught Marlene's glaring eyes as she stuck her tongue into Sirius's mouth again, "See?! Marls keeps looking at me like I've slept with her dad or something! What is her problem?"
Ever since she caught them in the hidden cupboard, Marlene's attitude towards Giselle had completely flipped - she despised her. The sneers Giselle received from the blonde were malevolent and messianic, any conversation between them was very snappy and she had overheard Marlene on countless occasions bitch about her antics abroad, it seemed as though Sirius had planted nasty thoughts in his girlfriend's head and tarnished the relationship between the two girls. Giselle got over it pretty quickly when she heard Marlene call her an attention-seeking tart, she didn't need to waste her energy on fixing their friendship.
"You already know the answer to that," muttered Lily, sneaking a glance over her shoulder, "ever since they started dating she's been stuck to him like a parasite and she's forgotten all about us - Sirius is the most important thing in her life now." Giselle could tell Lily was miffed by her friend's actions but with a quick huff she wiped her frustration from her face. "I don't care," she added quickly.
"Well I would care if I were you, some people don't realise how valuable their friends are until they're gone, trust me," said Giselle matter-of-factly, catching sight of Mary squished in between Dorcas Meadowes and Edgar Bones on the Ravenclaw table. Marlene and Mary were once as thick as thieves but the fourth member of their Gryffindor girl squad spent most of her time last year with the Ravenclaws, leaving Lily by herself - until now.
"Don't worry, you've still got me!" comforted Giselle.
"And I wouldn't trade you for the world," cooed Lily, sporting her infamous charming smile.
The school day passed in a flash and soon Giselle was up in the Gryffindor Tower getting ready to make her way down to the Quidditch pitch for tryouts. For some ludicrous reason, James decided that tryouts needed to take place after dark so he asked the potential players to meet him in the Gryffindor changing rooms at sunset which, naturally, sparked interest throughout the entire house and there was a consensus that everyone was coming along to watch - the captain's notoriety for causing trouble meant whatever he had planned was going to be entertaining.
"Are you nervous?" asked Lily, watching Giselle lace herself into a more supporting sports bra. She pouted at Lily and rolled her eyes.
"Me? Nervous? Have you met me?" laughed Giselle, scraping her dark hair into a tight ponytail and slicking on a layer of gloss. "My competitors are the ones who should be nervous."
"Silly me," scoffed Lily with a cheeky smirk, "for a moment I forgot who I was speaking to."
Knowing she would be provided with robes down at the stadium, Giselle slipped into a pair of navy striped bell bottom trousers and a delicate pale cropped blouse that complimented her curves and she relished the freedom of being able to dress however she liked in the evenings, a rule that her previous school lacked. Lily gasped and gushed over her new clothes, inviting herself to search through Giselle's wardrobe for her own inspiration, and the pair immediately got distracted talking about French fashion. There were many aspects of Giselle's transfer that she learned to embrace and the style of the Europeans was one of them, she adored their creativity and passion for the arts. As well as playing Quidditch, Giselle spent her free time practicing the piano and writing her own songs, her father forced her to take piano lessons as a child and her passion only got stronger as she grew up. Fortunately Beauxbatons was the perfect institute for her to explore her creative side further due to their creative arts classes that were part of their compulsory Muggle Life studies.
When Mary entered to announce she was leaving for the try-outs, the girls followed suit. Giselle shuffled through her trunk for Flash's ashes and stuffed him into her coat pockets, keeping him close for luck. Lily noticed the strange jar and narrowed her eyes.
"What's that?" she interrogated, suspicious that her friend had an illegal substance on her and Giselle picked up on her hunch almost instantly with an impish giggle.
"It's not what you think, it's Flash's remains… Well," Giselle pulled the transparent jar and shook the white powder to show Lily the specks of brown, "and a bit of dirt but Flash was always muddy, I think it's what he would have wanted."
Lily covered her mouth in shock and her doe eyes softened sympathetically as though Flash was a real human being. "James told me what happened, I can't believe your father did that."
"Of course he told you," smirked Giselle, arching an eyebrow as she looked Lily up and down, "I thought you didn't like James?"
Lily blushed, matching their bed curtains. "I don't," she spat without hesitating.
"You're sharing secrets - my secrets by the way - so you're closer to him than you think! Or you already know this and you're trying to play it cool," countered Giselle with a small pout, scrutinising her friend. The pair left their dorm and strolled down to the gently thinning crowds that were exiting the tower, keeping their voices down in fear of eavesdroppers. Lily bit her lip and glared at her shoes, a battle of her conflicting thoughts were apparent in her expression and Giselle let her friend simmer instead of interrupting - she would break any day now, she clearly wanted to talk about it.
"...It's complicated," whispered Lily after a few minutes of silent walking. Giselle bit her tongue to stop her squeals of joy and she latched onto Lily's arm with a wide smile on her face.
"How complicated? Can I help?! Tell me everything!"
Giselle's enthusiasm lowered Lily's defensive walls and she melted in her arms, exacerbating her blushing cheeks with mutters of contemplation. "I don't know where to start, you've missed quite a lot of drama," she began.
"Does this drama include the reason why you and your best mate Snape no longer look at each other?" wondered Giselle innocently. She never understood her friend's friendship with the miserable Slytherin boy, he did nothing but complain and snarl at Giselle and yet for Lily's benefit she still tried to be friendly with him during their first two years of school. Ultimately she couldn't bear his company as it became clearer to her that he was more of Junior's type of friend, not hers. Obviously Giselle's associations with the boys that made Severus' life a living nightmare didn't help her own situation but he never tried to make an effort.
Lily instinctively growled at the mention of Snape and she tightened her grip on Giselle's arm. "Yes it does, I'll start with him," she spat with derision, it was a new attitude for Lily and Giselle encouraged her by staying quiet. "It started during our fifth year, that's when he started hanging out with the Death Eater wannabes," explained Lily.
Giselle groaned, cluing in on the direction of the topic. She hadn't spoken to her friends about her concerns with her brother yet, she didn't know if it was as obvious to them at school as it was to her at home. "Wonderful, continue," she mumbled.
"He changed into a different person, it was really surreal," said Lily, reliving the past years in her head, "he started getting colder, he stopped talking to me in public, he started talking about dark magic more and then he wouldn't even look in my direction, I dismissed it at first and playing along with his stupid games and we only saw each in the dead of night."
"You shouldn't have done that, if he was embarrassed to be seen with you then he doesn't deserve your time," tutted Giselle, shaking her head at her friend. The pair continued through the castle, ignoring their surroundings as they gossiped. Lily snorted, grinning at her past mistakes.
"Yeah, I know that now! Took me a while to get there and I'm never going back," she admitted happily, "the turning point was him calling me a Mudblood."
Giselle flinched at the word and harsh lines appeared between her brows, flaring up defensively. "Oh for fucks sake! Lily, I'm so sorry-,"
"Please don't," said Lily, unbothered, "it means nothing coming from his mouth, his opinion is irrelevant and his prejudice cancels out all of the nice things he's said to me so I'm over our friendship, he killed it."
"Good because you are a thousand, no, a million times the man Snivellus could ever be," defended Giselle with a small peck on Lily's cheek to further prove her point.
"You're right. I think I'd be a great guy," deliberated Lily, getting distracted by the idea.
"Hell yeah! You'd be so hot!" agreed Giselle, imagining her best friend as the opposite sex, "I'd fuck you."
"Honestly I think you'd fuck me now by the way you've been strutting around the dorm in your underwear," joked Lily, taunting her back with a jab in the ribs. Giselle faked a gasp and fluttered her eyelashes seductively.
"You've noticed my attempts to seduce you, Evans?" she said mimicking James perfectly, making Lily burst out into fits of girly giggles. "But speaking of people who want to fuck you, when are we getting to the really interesting part where you tell me when you started fancying Potter?!" prompted Giselle, determined to get the intel from the snickering redhead.
"Elle!" choked Lily, whipping her head around in case James was lurking around. They had reached the grounds and were following the animated line of people towards the Quidditch pitch. The sky was a gorgeous deep purple and vibrant red streaks left by the sun hovered above the distant mountains, illuminating the beautiful scenery that surrounded the school and its beauty gave Giselle a quick boost of confidence; she was finally back in her home grounds, she was going to smash this try-out.
"Get to the juicy bit, we'll be there in a minute!" rushed Giselle, urging her friend to get on with it.
"James was there when Snape called me a Mudblood and he defended me, it kinda started there," explained Lily in a whisper, her green eyes darting all over the place in paranoia. "His attempts to seduce me stopped last year which was a huge relief at first but then I started to miss them which is something I never thought would happen. It helps that his huge ego is deflating."
Giselle pouted, amused that Lily was blind to his miserable attempts at playing hard to get. She had been back with them for two weeks and it was clearer than the grass behind her boots that he was still seducing her but she didn't want to ruin James' only plan. He had worked so hard to get here, she was so proud of him.
"And now you've come to the conclusion that he's a great guy and you've liked him all along?" she asked Lily, wiggling her eyebrows in motivation.
"Not all along, just this past year," corrected Lily bluntly.
"This past year?! Twelve whole months?! What about your 'arrogant, ignorant jock' speech? Was that just a cover?" spluttered Giselle, rather blindsided by her sudden confession. They had reached the break in the trees that housed the spectators entrance and they slowed to a slow stroll.
"I said it was complicated!" reminded Lily, pursing her pink lips. "I have a lot to think about."
"And I want to hear every thought but right now I need to go and get ready," Giselle paused their juicy gossip session and pushed Lily towards the stragglers that were rushing into the stands to find the best seats. It was a blessing that no wriggles of anxiety invaded her body despite the distant rumble of chatter from the babbling audience in the stadium, she needed to be on top form so she could show off to her fullest extent.
"Good luck!" shouted Lily as she disappeared into the stands and Giselle took a deep breath, channelling her breathing for the upcoming test. Before she headed inside, someone called her name.
"Elle! Wait!"
Remus ran over with a huge grin on his peony pink face but Giselle spotted the brand-new racing broom in his hands and she squealed in delight. James had been very tight-lipped about his latest purchase, he wanted his gift to be a surprise and he kept Giselle in the dark as to when she would be receiving her new broom but the wait was finally over!
"Now I'm no Quidditch expert," puffed Remus, trying to catch his breath, "but I think you might need this."
"It's beautiful!" gasped Giselle, delicately prying her new child from Remus' grip. The wood was almost silky from its smoothness and the glimmer of gold woven into the body made it feel ethereal but she trembled in awe when she felt warmth stretch through her fingertips as she stroked the handle. "I didn't expect him to get the latest model."
"He said something about wanting to have matching brooms, I wasn't really listening to be honest," sighed Remus before nodding towards the changing rooms, "James wanted to give it to you himself but he didn't want it to look like he was favouring you."
"How very noble of him," snorted Giselle, her eyes glued to her broom still. She spotted an engraving at the tip and beamed at the words 'Flash II'.
"Now run along," he shoved her towards the tent, "you've got quite the workout ahead of you and you need to prepare."
Giselle's face dropped and the wriggles of anxiety instantly appeared. "Uh, what?"
"Bye! Good luck! See you out there!" Remus shouted as he ran away, waving at her until he disappeared behind a sheet of canvas. She took a deeper breath than before, gripped Flash II tightly and walked inside, ready for whatever Potter threw at her.
Giselle was wrong, she wasn't ready at all.
"Listen up and listen well! We're only going to say this once because we only have one confetti cannon so keep your eyes and ears on us," announced James with a stern face, looking almost unfamiliar in his serious stance.
Giselle and the other hopefuls were standing in the changing room's common area waiting for James to start his extravagant presentation that explained the concept to his try-outs. He clearly had put a lot of time and effort into it and, to her immense distaste, he had roped his friends into helping him with his games.
James and Sirius stood before the group on a platform, identical in stature. They were wearing an entirely black outfit in an attempt to be intimidating and they had gone to the effort of finding a pair of decorated army caps to further relay the point that they were in charge. She tried to train her eyes to stay on James' stoic face but it was incredibly hard work, she kept flicking her gaze to Sirius and chased the burning sensation of anger that repeatedly hit her, it fuelled her for the upcoming competition. Unlike Potter, Sirius wore black aviator sunglasses but they didn't hide his glares, she could still feel them on her.
"Some of you were on the team last year, some of you have tried out before, and some of you are almost on my level of playing - none of that matters here tonight," barked James, surveying the group stiffly, "your past wins or losses don't mean anything, we are all starting afresh and on even ground."
The hopefuls murmured nervously amongst themselves but Giselle snorted, simply enjoying the show.
"I'm looking for a keeper, a seeker, two beaters, and two chasers," he listed as he started to pace along the platform, "and, as you all know already, I'll be filling the first chaser position as the star player. I've slaved over this master plan for weeks and I've come up with the perfect algorithm that will help me pick my teammates, it is totally fool proof and there are no flaws."
"With the help of my second in command here," James gestured to Sirius who remained unmoved, deep in character, "I will be guiding you through our try-out spectacular."
"Is this going to take all night?" a burly fifth year piped up from the front in disgust. The group oohed when James looked deeply offended and Sirius snapped his neck towards the loudmouth.
"Oh I'm sorry," drawled James, clutching her broad chest, "did you have something better to do this evening?"
"If it takes all night then you better be prepared to sleep on the goddamn pitch, Comrade! You better take this seriously and yes, that pun was absolutely intended," growled Sirius, walking up to the fifth year who had immediately clamped his mouth shut.
"Comrade Fawlkes, front and centre please," ordered James, and the strapping pair bossed the poor boy about to the entertained crowd. They flanked Fawlkes on both sides and glared down at him, their arms securely behind their backs as though they were commanding officers.
"On a scale from ninety six to sixty nine, how badly do you want to make the team?" interrogated James.
Fawlkes's freckled face froze and he stared up at James, confused. "Er-,"
"Comrade Fawlkes' answer is er, Captain," noted Sirius, pulling a notepad from his back pocket and jotting it down, "a solid answer if I do say so myself."
"Try again," ordered James.
"Sixty nine!" stuttered Fawlkes and he immediately blushed as the room burst out laughing.
Sirius let out a low whistle and scribbled furiously on his notepad, "Much better, Comrade!"
"I can see potential in you yet, now back in line you flobberworm!" James pushed the flustered boy back into his space and waited until the chuckles had died to continue.
Pulling an impressively long stick out of nowhere, he started to explain his grand plan using the whiteboard that usually displayed old plays. Doodles sprung to life as he described his intricate two-part try-out and he jabbed the stick in the air, misusing it entirely whilst he spoke. By the time he had reached the second part of his plan he was using the stick as a sword and swung it at the hopefuls, keeping them on their toes as a test of vigilance. Halfway through Sirius managed to obtain his own stick from nowhere and tried to start a duel but by this point Giselle had taken a seat, avoiding the display altogether. She had gotten the gist of what James had planned and she started to daydream about whipping everyone's arses to pass the time. She was used to their theatrics and she'd rather not have to listen to Sirius show off.
Eventually she was jerked out of her daze when she heard the two commanding men shout out positions as they gave out colour-coded robes.
"-and keeping the best position till last-," called out Potter, picking up the pile of lavender sports robes.
"-I didn't know we had a doggy-style team-," interjected Sirius, removing his sunglasses to check his parchment in disbelief, making the room laugh once more.
"-we have the Chasers," finished James, smirking at his best friend.
Giselle swallowed the lump in her throat and waited for the swarm of potential chasers to thin before collecting her own robes. Sadly, that was a rookie move and she was left with the ill-fitting leftover robes that no-one wanted. Resisting the urge to simply play in what she came in, Giselle claimed the clothes with a shake of her head.
"Not a fan of lavender?" wondered James, rushing over to steal a word before he resumed his bossy façade. He left Sirius on the platform by himself and she could feel his glare again, he had replaced his sunglasses for protection.
"Hell no, I look great in lavender," scoffed Giselle as she unravelled the robes and held them against her body, "but this is tiny! There's no way I can fit into this!"
"I trust that you can make it work," said James with a scoff, dismissing her problems, "use magic, I don't know."
"I don't think I know a spell that will stop my tits from popping out," grumbled Giselle, pursing her lips as she stretched the material. The resistance of the fabric wasn't as bad as she thought, it might work.
"If that happens then I'll give you loads of bonus points," teased James cheekily, nudging her in the ribs. "You'll be fine, you'll forget all about accidentally exposing yourself once the games begin!"
"Gee, I can't wait," said Giselle sombrely.
"Don't pout at me, Elle, I bought you a broom! Be grateful and get excited, this is going to be great!" he exclaimed, waving her arms around to try and make her smile. "Woo! James is the best captain ever, he makes everything so fun!"
"Wow, and Evans said you weren't big-headed anymore, look how wrong she was," she said with a pinch of resentment but her comment suddenly sobered him up.
"She really said that?" he murmured, pleasantly surprised, "what else did she say?"
Giselle began to divulge her latest findings when she was swiftly cut off by Sirius' sudden yell.
"You have one minute to change, everyone who isn't in their robes by then is automatically cut!" he announced, his voice strained slightly. Giselle didn't struggle meeting his shaded glare that time.
"Ignore him! You still have time!" James added for the room's benefit and he left Giselle to get ready.
The robes were a nightmare. The trousers that accompanied them were too tight and she swore she heard the seams along her thighs rip as she shimmied into them, the material that covered her torso kept unravelling to reveal her sports bra but luckily the outer robes covered her in the appropriate places. She didn't dare bend down too much though, the chances of her ripping her trousers was extremely high but if worse came to worst everyone would get a flash of her pretty lace underwear and she privately patted herself on the back for her clothing choices.
It wasn't long until James and Sirius were shouting out names, ordering them to leave and wait on the pitch. Giselle dawdled around the other chasers, the fifth year Toby Fawlkes welcomed her with a multitude of questions as she used to be on the team, and she waited for James to call her name.
"-and then we have Moon, Fawlkes, Cauldwell-," read out James, gesturing towards the door.
"-McGregor, Lopez, and," Sirius gritted his teeth, refusing to look up from his notes, "Crouch."
"Prewett, I put her down as Prewett," corrected James without missing a beat.
Giselle aww'ed, moved by James' sweetness, but Sirius grew more irate as his friend fought back.
"I only see Crouch on here," shrugged Sirius, spitting her name as though it were a curse. Giselle let her disdain grow, she didn't want to give him the pleasure of pissing her off. They still hadn't said a single word directly to each other yet, it was awfully tense when they were in close proximity to one another.
"Prewett," repeated James firmly.
"Crouch," growled Sirius.
"If it's up for discussion then I prefer Giselle," she blurted out, unable to help herself.
"We weren't talking to you," spat Sirius, acknowledging her for the first time. The light from the lamps around the room reflected in his sunglasses and she noticed the quivering muscle in his jaw… his very sharp jaw. Giselle huffed out some of her stress and ignored him.
"McGregor, Lopez, Crouch - out now," demanded Sirius again and the two sixth year boys behind Giselle scampered from the room, not wanting to witness the awkward conversation any longer. She ignored him again and admired her painted nails instead.
"Elle? Time to go," said James, fighting his smile as he found the entire interaction incredibly fascinating.
"Huh?" she blinked, looking at him blankly, "sorry did you say something? For a second all I could hear was hissing."
"Fuck you!" shouted Sirius, ripping his sunglasses off.
"No, fuck you!" Giselle yelled back, energised by his eye contact. It was cold and dark, the silver of his eyes were now a thunderous grey and she couldn't look away.
"So now you want to speak to each other," huffed James, throwing his hands in her air and walking away, "you just had to wait until we were seconds away from starting the try-outs! Thanks guys!"
"This isn't anything, I'm never talking to him ever again," snarled Giselle nastily and she snatched Flash II from the nearby broom rack and stomped out of the changing rooms, inspired by her spitting rage. She felt their eyes on her back and instinctively held her head up high, refusing to give him the satisfaction of embarrassing her. Wanker, Giselle thought spitefully.
The try-outs started once James and Sirius joined the hopefuls on the pitch but not before they welcomed their keen audience. Giselle scanned the crowds for Lily, her eye-catching gingham dress caught her eye and she waved at the cheering redhead who screamed back in support. A scattering of students from other houses appeared in the stands as they were equally as intrigued to know what was going on but the wait was over when James announced the first task.
"Brooms down, ladies and gentlemen - I need to see how physically fit you are, I can't have my team slacking if our brooms were to spontaneously combust, can I?" announced James to the stadium, his suave voice echoing for all to hear. "Five laps of the Quidditch pitch, the fastest time gets a special prize - go!"
"Ugh, I hate running!" complained one of the younger hopefuls.
"Our brooms are never going to combust," spat another, glaring up at James and Sirius in the commentator's box, "Potter just wants to make us suffer."
"Sounds to me like you've never played a game of Quidditch with him," sighed Giselle, tightening her ponytail and flashing her fellow chasers an alluring smile, "giddy up gentlemen!" She took off like a bouncing bunny and sprinted off around the pitch to the sounds of raucous cheers as the audience encouraged the players to go. Only the potential seekers, a group of three fourth year girls, had taken it seriously and were in the lead as they darted across the grass.
"It looks like only the female hopefuls have noticed that the race has started," reported Sirius, addressing the crowds with his booming velvety voice and they whooped in response. Giselle automatically cringed and icy trickles of defeat threatened to invade her body - was he commentating the whole try-out? She couldn't escape him, this was going to be painful.
Giselle pushed harder and caught up with the seekers but she purposely blocked out the commentator's crude words and the laughing audience that followed. "Oh look! Crouch has joined our leading ladies, it looks like her habit of running away like a coward has finally paid off," he said derogatorily.
The race was exhausting but by the third lap, things had taken a drastic turn. The rest of the hopefuls had levelled out and the gaps between the players were shrinking rapidly. Giselle kept herself comfortable in second place behind Melissa Novak, the smallest fourth year girl who was almost glowing from perspiration, but when Lopez and McGregor aimed a kick at her heels Giselle stumbled and fell back into a less impressive sixth place. Ignoring Sirius' obnoxious cackles at her failure, she whipped her wand from the strap on her thigh and flicked it at the boys in front.
"Colloshoo!"
Lopez yelped and tumbled forwards, throwing his hands out to stop himself from gaining a mouthful of grass but his feet remained flat on the floor, his shoes were glued to the ground. His sudden downfall took out McGregor who crashed to the ground equally as hard and Giselle simply hopped over them and continued on her merry way, blowing them a quick kiss as she passed.
"Have a nice trip, boys!" she giggled.
"That's cheating!" one of the other hopefuls gasped, horrified at Giselle's tactics.
"I never said you couldn't use your wands!" announced James, making the crowd roar with laughter as the hopefuls' faces dropped in realisation and their hesitance was enough to score Giselle a winning lead. The race ended in chaos as spells were thrown in every direction regardless of their targets and Giselle was satisfied with winning second place but she scoffed enviously when Remus handed the underdog winner, potential beater Javid Hooper, a signed black and white photograph of James.
"That'll be worth something one day, just you wait," defended James when Javid shot him a look of befuddlement.
The second task James forced them to take part in was possibly his worst idea ever.
"The phials that our good friends Remus and Peter are handing out contain small doses of a totally harmless, perfectly safe mysterious potion," he explained unceremoniously, "and I need everyone to drink it as soon as possible." Someone in the crowd was shouting, Giselle couldn't quite catch their words but she snorted and threw her head back in laughter when James guffawed, "-it most certainly is Ministry-certified, Evans! I wouldn't poison all of the Quidditch talent in Gryffindor, who do you think I am?!"
"Yeah! If we wanted to kill them we would have done so already!" added Sirius unhelpfully.
Giselle blinked at Peter as he gave her the phial.
"What is it?" she asked, unimpressed. She knew James was lying.
"Ah ha, that would be telling!" exclaimed Peter brightly and he moved on before she could snap back.
The second she swallowed the potion, a horrendous thudding filled her head and her whole body ached for sleep. She groaned and cradled her skull, the lights from the stands were way too bright and her stomach churned as though she had eaten an expired slab of meat - she felt hungover.
"I need to make sure that my teammates can still fly after a long night of hardcore partying," boomed James, revealing his ingenious planning, "follow the rings and try to make it through the course without passing out or vomiting."
"Our handlers are on the pitch ready to help at any point," assured Sirius, gesturing to Remus and Peter who were staring at each other in confusion, their new title was unexpected and they clearly weren't qualified for the role but they shrugged and nodded enthusiastically, giving the players two thumbs up.
"I can vouch for Remus, his mouth-to-mouth technique is impeccable," bragged Sirius, embracing his dazzling grin.
As the crowd oohed and snickered, Giselle spluttered and gawked at Remus, flabbergasted at the insinuation. He caught her eye and smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as she stumbled over. The urge to spew was getting stronger but she swallowed it down and blinked at Remus, silently asking him to explain.
"Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to mention that Sirius and I dated for a small period of time," he chuckled nervously. Giselle let her jaw drop.
"What?!" she gasped, not quite believing him. "No way!"
"Fifth year was a weird time for all of us," sighed Peter, patting Remus sympathetically on the shoulder.
"-and the rings are ready, off you go!"
Wobbling from both the potion and the abrupt surprise, Giselle clambered onto her broom and shot off like a firework. Most of the hopefuls were already down, moaning and vomiting as they clutched their stomachs with no intention of attempting the flying challenge which left Giselle with the opportunity to dominate the task. Flying drunk and flying hungover were very similar experiences so she had no problems, the whooshing g-force violently shook her delicate insides and she couldn't do any loops but her achy body propelled her to fly at top speed. She rocketed through the rings in record timing to the sounds of impressed cheers but she rejected the idea of basking in her glory and promptly chundered as she touched down on the grass.
"Interesting technique," mused Sirius, commentating on her vomiting rather than her flying, "she's opted for 'down on all fours' option instead of the 'hands on knee leaning forward' approach. Did you get down on your knees and gag a lot in France, Crouch? You look like an expert." Their audience dissolved into laughter once more, encouraging the cruel smile on his face.
A rush of fury blinded Giselle and she scrambled to feet, snarling murderously at the snarky commentator. "Eat shit, Black!" She yelled back, wiping her mouth.
"And on that cheerful note - it's time for the real try-outs to begin!" interjected James hurriedly, trying to prevent the beginnings of the long-awaited Sirius versus Giselle fight.
Snatching the antidote from the smirking Peter's hands, Giselle stewed in her hatred and tried her best to focus on the actual competition that the proud Quidditch captain had organised. The snickers from the crowd and the mutters from the other players weren't helping her in the slightest, no one expected their friendship to be that bad and their display of hostility inspired curious whispers about how the former best friends ended up loathing each other.
"What happened between you two?" gossiped Fawlkes, his piercing blue eyes narrowed as he shuffled through the chasers to reach her side. "I swear you two were together at one point-,"
Giselle retched dramatically, causing her eavesdroppers to snicker. "We were never together, he's a pompous, selfish, lying prick and I don't want to talk about this ever again. Please shut up Toby," she snapped fiercely. The snickers stopped instantly and Fawlkes blushed, muttering a quick, "sorry!"
Unsurprisingly, James had thought of a very clever activity that tested each positions' strengths and weaknesses and each game involved every player - flaws couldn't be hidden and limits were pushed, it was everything Giselle had been waiting for. The keepers were challenged with the task of defending the goals no matter what got thrown at them and Giselle squeaked with intrigue when Remus and Peter produced objects of all kinds from the changing room, she relished in the opportunity and happily pelted multiple stools, dozens of crates, various plants and countless books at the goalies. When she attempted to throw another player, Sirius tried to dock her points for manhandling but James dismissed his claim and rewarded her some instead, praising her nerve.
Once the keepers were worn out and covered in an array of substances from the projectiles, it was the seekers' time to shine. James decided that the perfect method of choosing the ideal seeker was to release over a hundred snitches at once and order the girls to catch as many of them as they could in five minutes but, to his extreme disappointment, he only had twelve snitches in his possession - so instead he released one hundred pixies that were humanely painted gold. Giselle only knew that the pixies weren't in danger of being poisoned by the paint as James had to repeatedly assure the outraged Head Girl that everything was fine.
"No pixies were harmed during the making of this task," Sirius read out the prepared statement off the parchment in his hands to the stadium, "we take great care of creatures or all temperaments and sizes so please know that we would never hurt one of those sharp toothed little shits no matter how many times they bit us. Our gracious Captain has donated fifty galleons and seven sickles to the Cornwell Pixie Protection Project as well so you can all sleep easy in your beds tonight."
"It's the least I could do, I am a very generous person," sniffed James, hiding the tiny bite marks on his hands.
The other players had the seemingly impossible mission of keeping the pixies away from the crowds and Giselle took it as an opportunity to talk to Lily. Smoothing her flyaways back into her ponytail, she hovered in front of her friend and waited for her thoughts so far.
"I totally forgot to tell you about Remus and Sirius, didn't I?" Lily spluttered, eyes wide in horror as she anticipated Giselle's reaction.
"Mhmm," Giselle nodded her head vigorously, "yeah maybe?!" A couple of the pixies tried to dive for Lily's hat but Giselle flicked her wand and shooed the immobilised pests away. The news that the boys were once an item had given her whiplash, she was physically speechless - she wasn't upset that it happened nor did she feel any stabs of envy, she was annoyed that she hadn't paired them up before and slightly hurt Remus hadn't brought it up sooner.
"But on the bright side, you're doing tremendously well!" Lily laughed nervously, motivating her shaken friend, "You've definitely secured a spot on the team already."
"That wasn't even a question, I've got this in the bag," snorted Giselle.
"Crouch, minus ten points for conferring with the audience," announced Sirius and the hairs on the back of Giselle's neck stood up straight. Dozens of eyes landed on her in the hopes of witnessing another blowout but she fixed her stare on Lily's milky face to stop herself from exploding.
"I'm going to kill him," she said with a false grin, pretending everything was fine and dandy. Lily gulped and glanced nervously at Mary and Edgar who were sitting beside her, noisily munching popcorn as they watched the show.
"Even for his standards he's gone too far, we were talking about it before you flew over here," reassured Lily and the crunching duo nodded in agreement.
"I never knew it was this bad, ouch," winced Mary.
"This isn't the cosy reunion I had pictured for the pair of you," chuckled Edgar, wriggling his blonde brows suggestively. Giselle huffed and opened her mouth to correct his wrong assumptions but was yet again she interrupted by another roar.
"Crouch! Ten more points! I could do this all night!" taunted Sirius melodically. The nearby chortles felt cruel and she turned to smile at Marlene a few rows away.
"McKinnon, do me a favour and put a leash on your boyfriend," Giselle sang sweetly, fluttering her thick lashes at the blonde. Marlene's smile faltered and her rosy complexion paled ever so slightly.
"Huh?!"
"Tell that arsehole to shut up, go shove your tongue down his throat or something, that usually works," snapped Giselle and she smirked as those around them sniggered.
All of Marlene's attempts to shut Giselle down were drowned out by James' whistle, signalling that the five minutes were up and the players returned to carry on with the trials. Giselle trained her concentration on the night sky above her instead of the callous commentary and the refreshing night air cooled down the burning anger inside her, the will to shove her determination in Sirius' face recharged her batteries. Assuming a more cheerful façade, Giselle embraced the beaters' challenge and tried her best to show off. The aim of this game was for the beaters to correctly hit the player that James and Sirius described but, as she expected, all of Sirius' descriptions fit her to a tee.
"Hit someone who has been on the team before."
"Bludgeon the player who recently transferred."
"Aim for a female player in purple robes."
"Technically it's lavender," corrected Giselle as she zoomed past the commentator's box, avoiding the flock of green players on her tail for the tenth time. Instead of rising to his bait, she effortlessly avoided the bludgers with perfectly-timed serpentine swerves and her nerve pushed her limits as she narrowly avoided crash landing multiple times as she tricked the violent balls into pummelling into the pitch over and over again. Sadly her overexertion pushed the seams of her robes to the edge and they were starting to split, slivers of skin peaked through the rips but she thrusted that problem to the back of her mind so she could concentrate on staying conscious and unhurt.
"Wow! Fantastic work lads!" cried James as he jumped up to applaud the beaters for their courageous effort. Half the team were bruised and beaten and their future captain couldn't have looked more pleased, "I haven't seen this many black eyes since our last fight with the Whomping Willow, smashing!"
Finally they reached the chasers' portion of the show and Giselle shook away the nerves with a neck roll and a few arm stretches but her eyes bulged and she gasped when she heard something tear. Frantically patting her back Giselle's stomach plummeted as she felt a breeze on her back, the robes were hanging on by their last threads and she didn't have time to sort it out - James had climbed onto his own broom and joined the chasers in the air.
"My potential team mates," he called out, eyeing the lavender clad players, "Your task is to simply keep up with me - everyone else, try and stop us from scoring… go!"
"Ah fuck it," whined Giselle and she stabbed her wand into her back, "Reparo!" The fabric restitched itself back together but the sudden tightness compressed on her lungs and breathing became an inconvenience - it would have to do. She gripped her broom handle, latched her gaze onto the blur that was James, and zoomed off in the opposite direction with her own plan on her mind.
Giselle had lost count of how many games she had played with James at her side, she knew his plays inside and out and she could read his smug face like it was her favourite book - she knew exactly how to steal the Quaffle from him. The other chasers had fallen into his trap and were failing to keep up with his top speeds, they were literally eating his dust and the whirlwind of defensive players slowed them down but Giselle avoided all of them and circled one of the stands, getting ready to strike.
"Come on guys!" laughed James, shaking his head in disappointment at the stragglers, "keep up!" He whipped his head around trying to spot Giselle and he cackled in glee when she shot towards him like a bullet. "Yes Elle!"
The classic fake-out method always put the crowd on the edges of their seats and the thrill of rocketing towards another player at high speeds never failed to get Giselle's heart pounding, adrenaline flooded through her body and she grinned at the boy who was racing to meet her - who was going to cave first?
"Am I going to go left? Or up?" taunted James, "or are we going to crash?"
Giselle bit her lip, they were seconds from colliding head first into each other and crowds audibly winced as they got closer, but she saw the momentary flicker in his face that gave away his intention to go up. Gotcha now Potter!
The stands shrieked as they met in the air but before James could thrust his broom upwards, Giselle twisted her body and aimed a kick at the Quaffle hooked in his thick arms. It shot out with a small pop and she effortlessly snatched it, claiming her prize.
"Mine!" giggled Giselle, her voice tinkling like a bell as she sped off towards the hoops. Proud that she had successfully duped him, James whooped in celebration and joined the fray that were now after the new chaser in possession. The commentator of the match remained silent.
The ten minute chase game brought Giselle to life. She flourished with her old teammate at her side, the synchronicity of their plays brought back old feelings of comradery and Giselle found herself automatically shaking her body, copying James' dance moves. She had scored a few gasp-worthy goals, each one earning her yet another glare from Sirius, and she relished in successfully stealing the show - she had the highest score of the group.
The try-outs ended with what Giselle could only describe as a type of closing ceremony. After starting the try-out with absolute uncertainty that the event would turn out well, the potential Quidditch team members were blown away by James' flying spectacular and congratulated him on creating such exhilarating games but he quietened them down with only one announcement.
"I must say I'm really impressed with what I've seen here tonight and I promise you all that the list will be up on the notice board tomorrow morning," he swore, addressing those on the pitch, "but, due to the staggering total of points earned by one particular player, I'm proud to announce that our top scorer will automatically make it onto the team." Giselle jolted in shock and clutched her chest, breathless at the news. James turned to her and brandished his hands towards Remus and Peter who were approaching the group with a giant cannon in their arms.
"Welcome to the team, Prewett!"
The cannon exploded and showered the pitch with colourful luminous confetti and it lit up the night sky. Giselle thanked them all for their applause and took a gracious bow, but the euphoric beast that swallowed her immediately spat her out again when Sirius stormed over and carelessly threw her new Quidditch robes at her, barely looking her way. Scoffing at his rudeness, she snatched the robes from the floor, lifting them up in admiration but the golden name on the back curdled the warmth in her stomach and the sensation of winning faded - Crouch, 4.
Her exasperated groans disrupted the joyous moment and Sirius walked away with the biggest smile on his face.