CHAPTER 11: The First Game

Scorpius halted at a wide open-field not too far behind the stone-house – the Weasley's Quidditch pitch. The oval-shaped pitch was a professional size, though he noticed that the hooped goal posts were handcrafted or you could say wizard-made. It's not as grandiose as his personal pitch at the Manor or even at Potter's Meadow, but it's still decent.

Albus stopped beside him – his Firebolt-Prime and Scorpius' Thunderbolt-V were in his hands. "What do you think?" his best friend asked, smiling.

"Well," Scorpius drawled, "I can see now how serious this family is about quidditch."

Albus chuckled as he held out Scorpius' broom, "Just realized, huh?"

"Albie, how come you didn't bring my broom too?" from his right beside, Lily glared at her brother. Her small hand still unconsciously gripped Scorpius's – not that Scorpius minded surely.

Before Albus could answer, a light merrily voice from behind shouted. "I brought yours, petal!" It was Teddy, hand in hand with Victoire – his turquoise hair striking as always. Molly, Dominique, and Rose strolled behind – they all brought their own brooms. In the distance, Scorpius could see the parents also approaching from the house.

Lily ran over to her godbrother. She took her broom and happily embraced Teddy's other hand which was not occupied by Victoire. Scorpius had to hold his sigh regretting as he lost the hand of the lovely little red-haired girl.

"All right, you lot!" Dominique strode across the field shouting. "Since I'm the only captain at the moment, I wanted to provide a challenge."

All marauders-trio squinted at their peculiar cousin/sister – Hugo at their side blinked nervously. The war between the trio and Dominique usually ended up nasty. It was resolved either with an explosion from the trio's mischief or a dragon-breath blast from Dominique's wrath – not literally of course.

"I want me and James to be captains!" Dominique said simply.

James, standing between Fred and Louis whose expression before was suspicious, smirked and folded both his hands on his chest, "In what conditions and prize, dear cousin?"

"Oh, you know me, Jamie. I never do anything halfway! I guarantee the prize will be your dream come true," she retorted smirking, only Dominique could smile evilly but still look so beautiful.

"We accept!" shouted the marauders.

On Scorpius' side, Albus grumbled, shaking his head. It's always admirable how the three could occasionally speak at the same page, at the same time.

"You still have to hear the condition," Dominique drawled annoyingly.

"Name it," Fred sneered.

"Careful," Louis muttered, "We never know what's going through her pretty big head."

"Relax little brother, not every time I'm – as you often say – the embodiment of evil," she replied lazily. "Ah, and thanks by the way for telling me pretty."

Lily who now was beside Scorpius again couldn't stop giggling.

Victoire, still holding Teddy's hand, sighed exasperatedly, "Just stop chattering so we can play, Dommy."

"Right! The condition's simple. No parents this time! Blondie," she turned to Scorpius, "you play! Lucy, you too! Now, take your broom, hurry!"

Lucy shrugged and ran to the shed to get her broom. All family brooms were stored in the Burrow's broom shed. That's because the Weasley families only played here or at the Potter's Meadow.

"You all cousins can play, then?" Scorpius mumbled.

Lily grinned at him, "Well, of course! Although surely, not everyone's as good as James or Dominique."

"Or me and you," Albus chimed in winking to his sister, Lily laughed.

"Or me and Louis!" Fred protested.

"Or me!" Hugo and Roxanne yelled at the same time.

"Well," Rose interceded, "let's just say every one beside Lucy or maybe Molly is a decent player."

Lucy who just returned to the pitch refuted, "Hey, I'm not that bad. Roxy has been training me non-stop. You'll see, next year I'll be playing for Hufflepuff."

"And surely, I'm more decent than my parents," Molly responded nonchalantly.

Percy just sighed – both hands in his pocket. All parents had arrived in the field. And by mean all included the Weasley's grandparents, Arthur and Molly, and also Charlie.

On Percy's side, his wife Audrey holding his hand smiled apologetically to her daughters, "We are sorry that we don't have the quidditch gene to pass down to you two, honey."

"So, we can only watch?" Bill asked his daughter amused.

"Stay out, Dad! I already told you all at the house before!" Dominique glared at the smiling Weasleys, her amused father and reproached mother. "Only the children play this time!"

Teddy smiled teasingly, "Technically speaking, Dom! Me, you, Vic, and Molly are of age." However, when he saw the murderous glare from the red-haired captain, Teddy raised both his hands up and hastily added, "But sure-sure, only us the children, not the old men."

"I pick first," James rounded out, so they all could play soon.

"Whatever," Dominique shrugged.

"I want Lily!" James said confidently. Lily shrieked – surprised his brother would choose her over Al. James couldn't help but smile, "Alright, Lils! Stop jumping and come here."

"Albus," Dominique picked smirking, while Lily ecstatically went to James' side and Albus, just shrugging, went to Dominique's.

"Teddy!"

"Rose."

"Hugo!" ("Yes!" Hugo soared running and embraced the gleeful Lily.)

Dominique paused turning to Scorpius, "What position are you?" Her left slender eyebrow rose.

"He's a good chaser, Dom!" Rose chimed in from Dominique's side.

"Fine!" the redhead rolled her eyes, "Scorpius, then."

"Fred!" ("Took you long enough!" Fred scolded his bespectacled cousin.)

"Vic."

"Louis!" ("Huh! For a while I thought I'd be in that witch's team," Louis shuddered.) ("Loui, that iz you zister you'e talking about," Fleur admonished her son.)

"Roxy."

James paused thinking, his brown eyes observed Dominique's team then to the red-haired sisters remaining. Molly looked bored while her sister looked nervous. Finally he said, "I'll have Lucy!" ("Wow," Lucy was stunned for a moment and sprinted to Lily and Hugo).

"Molly-Elbey, come here darling," Dominique said sweetly waggling her eyebrows.

Molly snorted, "Stop calling me that!" It was Molly's pet name since childhood. Audrey, who didn't want to be mistaken between her little daughter and mother-in-law, began to mention Molly's middle name Elbertyna, and eventually called her Molly-Elbey. However, ever since she left for Hogwarts, no one but her mother could call her that anymore, well both her mother and sometimes Dominique for sure.

James' team

"Right," James said passionately to his team. "We have a brilliant seeker," Lily squealed, James ignored her then gazed at the two marauders, "Two best beaters!" Fred and Louis smirked. "And we have a worthy keeper here," James pointed at Hugo who was beaming.

"Mark my words, Huge! A year from now, Gryffindor will have the best keeper who much better than Dom or even Oliver Wood himself and that boy's name is HUGO WEASLEY." James stepped forward, put both hands on Hugo's shoulder glowering at his little cousin – the boy looked so much like Uncle Ron with Aunt Hermione brown hair. "Do you hear me, Hugo? Repeat after me: 'you're awesome!' Make sure their Quaffle can't get past your hoops, especially your sister's!"

Teddy laughed edgily and embraced Hugo's shoulder pulling him out from his passionate godbrother's grip, "Okay, so no pressure, Hugo! Just do your best."

"Teddy, stop coddling him!" James was irritated. He turned his gaze to Hugo again, "Huge, I need to hear it from you. Say it!"

"James's right, Teddy! I am good, I can do this!" He said confidently and turned his eyes at the team. "You guys can trust me, I'm an awesome keeper!"

Fred and Louis pulled the slender boy out of Teddy's – both cousins held Hugo's right and left sides.

"That's our boy," Fred said proudly ruffling his hair.

"Make sure you wipe off Dominique's haughty ugly grin, okay mate!" Louis smirked, patting his shoulder.

Teddy could only sigh, shaking his head.

James spoke again seriously, "And although we have Lucy, we still have the former Hufflepuff captain here!" James pointed at Teddy, and added, "And you all have ME!" he shouted every word with certainty, as if his very existence would answer any worries or doubts the team had.

That made Lily and Teddy burst out laughing.

Lucy looked annoyed and amused at the same time, "So you're basically saying that you have all the best except me."

"Better you than Molly," James responded simply.

"Because I'm easier to maintain than my sister?"

"Exactly," James nodded solemnly.

"Jamie!" Lily reproached – both hands in her waist.

However, Lucy could only laugh. "But seriously though, surely I can't keep up with you and Teddy," she revealed in between her laughter.

"Therefore," James turned and glared at his two best friends, "It's your job to knock them off with Bludger!" Fred and Louis looked sullen but serious at the same time. James continued, "Don't ever let them near Hugo! Protect Lily and Lucy! Do you guys hear me? I mean it, Fred, Lou! I do not accept any kind of errors. You both are too good to even make a single mistake!"

"For the love of Rowena, take it easy James!" Louis rolled his eyes, but when he saw that his cousin didn't appreciate the jokes, Louis sighed tapping James' shoulder, "You have my word, I'll do the best for you."

Fred embraced his captain's shoulder, "You know me, Jamsie. You are my captain in my heart, ever since we both first flew on our toy brooms, many years ago," he elaborated solemnly, placing left hand over his heart. "I'd jump in, dive in and even knock Merlin and Morgana off of their brooms if it could bring you victory."

"Good! I know I can always count on you," James nodded heartily.

"And that's how you answer James Potter when he's in his addict-mode like this," Fred whispered to Louis desperately. Louis only scowled.

Lily who could hear the exchange giggled.

Teddy at her side implied, "And I get now, how Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup two years in a row since your brother joined! Even though Dom's the captain, James definitely is the team's burning engine."

"Imagine when he became the captain!" Lily responded, smiling fondly.

James who didn't care about the whispers around him turned to Lucy, "So you hear, Luce? Fred and Louis will always protect you. Just do your best, okay? Teddy and I will pass the Quaffle across the field, while you fly low – always ready below us – in case one of us passes it to you. Got it?"

"Sure, James!" Lucy grinned – inevitably the gentle red-haired girl was also carried away by the team spirit.

"Good, good," James murmured. "Now, Lily…" He turned to his beloved only sister – his beautiful adorable darling baby sister.

However, before he could say anything the said beautiful sister cut in. Lily reached him, putting both her small hands hard on his cheeks, two pairs of identical light brown eyes connected, "I'll catch the Snitch for you!" grinning, she said simply to her brother.

James beamed shuffling her pretty hair lovingly. "Right! Let's do this."

The team roared and started to fly off.

Teddy nudged him softly, "No big words for me, brother?"

James sneered, "All those words, I learned them from you. Let's crush Albus' team!"

Teddy howled with laughter. But, then James' face startled at whatever appearance in front of him. "What? What is it?" Teddy urged.

"We still have one problem," James grumbled, pointing to the bespectacled wizard whose face looked a lot like him, standing on the side of the field. The war hero was gazing anxiously at his laughing daughter, who was flying high above the sky.

"Dad," both brothers muttered at the same time.

Meanwhile, Dominique's team

Scorpius stared at their fierce captain. The team was waiting expectantly also.

"I won't say a lot," Dominique started, "Just do the best and don't let me down!"

"Nice speech, Dom," Albus sneered.

"You, Mister," She glared at Albus, "Make sure you catch the damn Snitch as soon as possible, definitely before your lovely little sister!"

"Sure-sure," Albus responded nonchalantly.

Scorpius nervously asked though, he better be fully prepared. "Uh, can someone explain who will be their chasers?"

"James of course," Rose responded.

"And Teddy," Victoire joined in.

"And the last one I think is Lucy," Roxy chirped hastily. Of all the players on this team, surely the dark skinned little girl was the most excited one.

"Yeah, because my baby brother won't be anything but a keeper and that crusher-duo always play beaters," Rose added, pointing at Fred and Louis who were standing beside James.

"And us?" Scorpius raised his pale eyebrow. "Who plays what?"

Dominique sighed exasperatedly, "This is why I do not like new players. No offense, blondie."

"None taken," Scorpius shrugged.

Molly chuckling chimed in, "Our lovely captain here as you know will always play keeper, Al's seeker, Roxy and I will take those Bludgers – so that leaves you, Rose, and Vic who played chaser. Got it?"

Scorpius nodded.

"Good, all clear then?" Dominique took over. "Go Team! Now fly off – get on your broom, you lot!"

Scorpius approached his best friend who was ready to fly, "Umh, is your sister any good?"
Albus stared at him questioningly, "Lily? Well of course! Do you think James would have chosen her over me if she's only ordinary?"

Scorpius sighed. Sometimes he wondered if the Weasley cousins, even his best friend here had forgotten that he was not one of them, who knew nothing about every one's ability or capability in this kind of sport. "So just to be clear, are you saying that Lily is better than you?"

Albus chuckled seeing his friend's confusion. "Lily and I are both equal at flying. We love seeking, both are agile and patient; and we both also have keen eyes. So, between me and her – the first to catch it only depends on where and when the Snitch will be."

"Wow," Scorpius couldn't help but be amazed at Albus' sister, because Scorpius definitely knew how brilliant Albus was as a seeker. To imagine the red-haired little girl was equal to his best friend, "Wow, you are all indeed nuts when it comes to quidditch, aren't you?" Scorpius laughed.

Albus followed, "Oh, you'll see, at least in two years – I guarantee you – all my family will be on the Hogwarts Quidditch teams. That's how maniacal this family is."

After a moment of laughter, Albus clouded suddenly, "But, this is Lily's first game."

Scorpius frowned – didn't understand the connection.

So Albus explained, "You see, Lily's the baby in the family. So, whenever she wanted to play – and no matter how brilliant she is – Dad never allowed her. She only played with me, James, and Teddy at the Meadow. Well, sometimes she played here too, but never in the real games. So she compromised, not forgetting to ask Mum and us – all her brothers – to back her up, and Dad finally agreed that she could play only after she has her Hogwarts letter, which you know she got just yesterday. And today is her first real game." To confirm his explanation, Albus pointed at his father – Harry Potter did look very worried.

"So, that's why she's so excited to play and had to do it as soon as possible?" Scorpius smirked, then responded to Harry's expression, "Your Dad's freaking out, mate."

Albus laughed half-heartedly, he could honestly understand his dad's anxiety. Everything about Lily's safety always made the men in the family anxious. When he saw his Dad arguing with his older brothers, Albus sighed, "Come on! I don't want to miss that."

So, Scorpius and Albus rushed to the Potters.

"Honestly, James! What's so wrong with me being the referee?" They heard Harry ask James exasperatedly. "I didn't even forbid her to play this time."

"The problems Dad, whenever you'd see if Lily gets hit by Bludger or worse falls over her face, you're going to stop the game or something."

Harry's face became green, "I don't like this." He swallowed hard and turned to all the men beside him, "Do you think it's a good idea?"

"NO!" All Weasley men said at the same time – Charlie's the loudest. Even Percy who's usually ignorant and Arthur who's usually cool shook their heads wholeheartedly.

When Harry heard Albus' nervous laugh beside him, he turned to his second born. "Al! You don't have a problem if I become the referee, right?"

"Ng?"

"He has no say in this," James whined. "Lily's on my team, not him."

"Well, Dad," Albus slowly expressed, Harry looked at him expectantly, "I think, it'll be the best if Mum's referee."

"See! Even Al agrees with me," James grasped triumphantly.

"That's what I said earlier to placate your Dad," Teddy muttered to Albus.

Albus scowled and said again patiently to his two idiotic brothers, "Then why haven't any of you called Mum yet?"

Scorpius had to hide his smirk – fully understanding Albus' frustration. Gryffindors, Hufflepuff, always full of feelings.

"MUM!" James shouted, ignoring his father's glare.

Ginny scurried toward the men – Hermione and Angelina following closely looked curious. When they stood before Harry, Ginny asked intriguingly to her husband and sons, "Why has the game still not begun? Dominique's getting impatient. She said something about 'Uncle Harry's finally gone bonkers'."

Bill grumbled, "Of course she'll say something like that, that daughter of mine…"

"Well, explain!" Ginny interrupted, "What is it, James? What did you do to your Father?"

"Dad wants to referee!" James complained.

"And we think Dad suggested it because of Lily," Albus elaborated on the whole point. "And all our Uncles here, also Gramps obviously, agree with Dad." All men glowered at Albus.

"And we'd actually prefer you to be the referee, Ginny," Teddy finalized.

Ginny sighed, "Harry, we talked about this. How about you just stay inside the house, eat treacle tart or something?"

"Absolutely not!" He yelled to his wife.

"Then stop being a git, all of you!" Ginny glared at her husband, brothers, and father.

When Harry turned to his bushy-haired sister in everything but blood, Hermione shook her head chuckling. "Oh, no-no! You can't expect anything from me. Admit it, Harry, you're just being a silly father."

"Lily's brilliant, Harry." Angelina joined in, "Everyone knows that and everything's going to be okay. Stop worrying too much."

"Right! We all agree then. Mum's referee!" James grumbled, got on his broom, and flew away in the blink of eyes.

Teddy smiled half-heartedly to his godfather and followed behind.

Harry, who like Dominique said 'gone bonkers', frantically yelled his daughter's name, "Lily!"

Scorpius couldn't help not to gaze at the little Potter in the air – the youngest Weasley grandchild. She heard her father's voice, and then beautifully smiled, flying down towards her family who adored her – her ponytail fluttering behind. Once more Scorpius thought that she was indeed lovable and enchanting.

She halted in the air in line to his father's face – her brown eyes bored deeply into her father's emerald ones. "Are you still worrying, Daddy?" she asked, concerned.

"Should you play, angel?" Harry begged desperately.

Scorpius unconsciously smiled at the pet name.

"I promise I won't be reckless," Lily answered serenely. "Please, Daddy. I want to do this." And she gave her best wide doe-eyed. She didn't even realize what effect those big brown eyes had on all the men in her family.

Scorpius slowly shook his head withholding his laugh. Albus didn't succeed though – Scorpius could hear his best friend was laughing softly.

Harry sighed giving in, "No broken bones, definitely no blood! Promise, love?"

"Pinky promise!" Lily chirped and then she closed the distance and kissed his father's cheek affectionately. "Thank you, Daddy! I love you." And before her Uncles or Gramps asked the same thing, she hastily flew back into the sky.

Albus guided Scorpius to walk away.

Scorpius chuckled seeing the disappointment on the men's faces for unlike Harry they didn't get Lily's kiss. "Your sister is really something."

Albus smiled genuinely, "Yeah, Lily's very special. But, come on, we have to take off before Dominique's gone bonkers."

They both burst out laughing, but startled when Dominique's scream rang out far in the sky. "Albus! Blondie! Get your little asses on the broom and take off NOW!" Not wasting time they both flew towards their team.

James soared like a thunder grabbing the Quaffle that his mother threw high above. The first ball was always the clincher. For James the spirit of the team was greatly affected by the first goal – his first goal! The chaser should know the style or direction of not only each player but also the referee's shot. And James knew – oh, definitely how he knew his mother's fashion. This was why quidditch was more than just being able to play. It's much more than that. The players must be able to see beyond the ordinary, be in the best position at the precise time. That distinguished worthy players with geniuses, and not without reason people said James was a prodigy. As now when other players still adjusted he's already halfway across the opponent's court. He could see how ready Dominique's for him, and in the corner of his eyes he sensed from the right Teddy was also ready for him, he couldn't feel Lucy's presence anywhere though.

Now being a chaser was also about tricks, and Dominique was an excellent keeper who was almost sensitive to every trick. James drove really fast as if he was going to hit Dom, but he's aware Dominique was hard to intimidate. So he flew up – somersault – and unexpectedly passed to Teddy who was in the right corner of the field. Teddy circled behind the hoops as if he was going to hit the leftmost hoop. Dominique followed and swiftly guarded the critical side. But again, Teddy understood how much James loved being the first goalie. With the Quaffle in his right hand – aiming for the goal – Teddy twisted his right hand, and nimbly passed it to James who was ready close to the posts. Next, James easily shot into the empty center hoop. And that was it! Once again – as he had always done in every history of his games – James Sirius scored the first goal. He beamed, gave a quick high five with his godbrother, and then sped off to the center of the field getting ready to defend.

In defense, it was clear that beaters played an important role. Fred skillfully smacked the Bludger at Victoire, which made his veela cousin pass it to Rose and dodged. The Quaffle was now in Rose's hand. Rose was good. Much better than Vic – almost as good as Teddy, only Teddy had more experiences than Rose. James and Teddy approached together, body-blow their cousin – squeezed Rose from both sides. Rose couldn't help but to drop the Quaffle which Scorpius was ready to catch underneath. Scorpius was also a worthy chaser. James grimaced, imagining this year or a year from now that Albus' best friends would be his future formidable foes. Secretly he was grateful that the two friends would be on different house teams.

James glanced at Louis who on the far left quickly reached the flying Bludger. Harshly Louis hit the Bludger right at Scorpius. The force of the impact pushed Scorpius to turn upwards where James was ready to ambush and punch the Quaffle in Scorpius' grip. The floating Quaffle was easily caught by Teddy.

Then across the field, high above the goal line, Teddy and James passed each other the Quaffle, deftly twirled Molly's Bludger. This time James noticed Lucy was flying ready under them in case she had to take a pass. However, Dominique sharply focused her attention at the middle of the loops. Her eyes followed James and Teddy's movements, slowly turned upwards to block them. And James knew the same trick wouldn't fool his fierce cousin again. So James dropped the Quaffle, and silently prayed wholeheartedly that Lucy wouldn't miss.

Lucy, who was close to the right loop, caught it. 'Shoot Lucy' James screamed in his mind. And GOAL! Lucy made it. Lucy turned to James, her face full of satisfaction. James roared gleefully – flew over and ruffled Lucy's hair in a proud glance. In the distance Fred and Louis cheered for their gentle cousin's completion. James saw on the sidelines how proud Uncle Percy was. See? With the right encouragement and guidance, James believed he could lead Lucy to become a reliable player.

The good sense of their teamwork carried on. Unwittingly, they'd played three-quarters of an hour full. But the more often it passed, the more Dominique understood all of James' tricks. So it's getting harder for him and Teddy, let alone Lucy to score.

Albus and Lily flew around the pitch gracefully and agilely. The two of them still hadn't succeeded in spotting the whereabouts of the cursed Snitch, which was for some reason today very reluctant to be found. James realized that Lucy was getting more and more exhausted, and wished his sister or even brother would catch the stupid Snitch soon and end the game. However, even though they had already accumulated a lot of points – James managed to score 11 goals, 6 from Teddy, while Lucy still only had two goals – if it was Albus who got the Snitch, they would still lose.

The presence of two great beaters on his team ensured that Hugo's guard wasn't too strenuous. Fred and Louis were desperately eager to prove that they had not given the slightest chance to disappoint their captain. Of less than two dozen shots on target, Hugo managed to save fourteen of them. Only 3 goals from Rose and two each from Scorpius and Victoire qualified. And this made James constantly throw a fist of pride or a grin of appreciation at Hugo every time his cousin saved the goal. James heard proud cheers again and again from Uncle Ron, because it's clear Hugo was a far cry from the style his uncle used to play. Hugo's full of confidence. And although the gangling boy was very young, raw, or even inexperienced, Hugo never allowed himself to be intimidated at all. So, the current final score was 190-70 for James' team.

It happened suddenly. From two opposite sides Lily and Albus at the same time spotted the Snitch which was right in the middle of the field deep at the bottom, and the two of them began to dive and reach. James' heart jumped to see that Albus' position was more disadvantageous than Lily's. But remarkably Roxy smashed the Bludger which would have struck the back of his sister's head, if Lily hadn't quickly realized and dodged the Bludger at the last second. The distraction made Albus' position better now, but Lily immediately shot back, reaching. She spiral dived to quickly intercept the Snitch. His sister's face was focused and merciless. She was amazing. But James' heart couldn't stand the thought of Lily being crashed. And he was sure his father felt the same as him right now. 'Please let her be safe, please let her be safe,' he repeated in his heart.

However, in the term of diving, Albus and Lily were equal – even James sometimes lost to both. So, when the damn Snitch decided to turn away (still at the bottom), everyone could see how in sync his two siblings pulled out of dive at the very-very last second and shoulder to shoulder they began to reach out for the reluctant Snitch to catch.

The Snitch flew fast so low at the bottom making it impossible to reach. 'She needs help'. As if responding to the cry of his heart, in the distance to the top right of Albus, Fred pounced one of the Bludger and smacked it harshly towards Albus at the same time Lily did the unthinkable. His sister flopped left – flying parallel to the ground – Lily's entire left side of body and face almost touching the ground, so that her left hand could grab the Snitch which was still flying very-very low at the bottom.

James soared when he saw Lily's small hand scooped the Snitch, but then he saw Lily's face changed. From her position, Lily could see from the top right, the Bludger that Fred had hit was about to crash into the right side of Albus' head. And Albus who was still shocked by their sister's actions didn't even notice.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, they didn't even notice the whistle blowing by his mother signaling the game was over. James witnessed Lily's horrified expression seeing the approaching Bludger – heard her shrill scream. Still flying parallel to the ground, Lily just pushed Albus off his broom, and before she tried to return to a normal flying position let alone dodge, the Bludger hit her little body right on the chest. Lily flew off the broom, crashed and rolled ten feet to the left.

"LILY!" But it was not just James' scream of agony – it was everyone's.