The Prince and The Pauper
(A Marauder Story)
Chapter 7: Tales of Quidditch and Pag
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Lily woke up sweating the next morning. To say that she was nervous would've been the understatement of the year. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that she'd be the worst in her year. Yes, James and Cass and Bella and Sirius had been helping her, but she still felt uneasy. Sirius was a half-blood; his mother is a witch and his father is a muggle. Lily still couldn't imagine what was going to happen at a magical school. She had looked over her books, especially one called Hogwarts, A History. (A/N: Herm's favorite! lol) Just reading the book got her confused. What she really wanted was to have a normal life. But since she was six years old, nothing had been the same.
Lily had never really spoken about her parent's death. And truth be told, there wasn't much to tell that she knew. At 10:46 PM, October 31, neighbors heard an explosion. When the police came, the house looked perfectly all right, which was odd. They crept through the house; everything was all right except for in the dining room. And then they gasped in horror, for before their eyes lay Rose and Christopher Evans, all dressed up in fancy clothes, dead on the floor. A look of terror was in their eyes. Their youngest daughter was still sleeping in her room, and their oldest daughter was nowhere to be found. Police officials had brought the six year old, Lily, to the nearest orphanage: St. Bernadette's. And the rest, as you might say, was history.
Lily shook herself back to the present. Thinking of her past, pre-St. Bernadette's, that is, always frightened her. Not in the smallest bit the fact that she could hardly remember her parents. Lily sighed. It pained her to look at Mr. Potter and James. As much as Mr. Potter didn't really show too much open affection for his son, Lily could tell he loved James very much. And of course, James would do anything to get his father to praise him. Lily could tell just by watching them. And for once, all Lily wanted was for someone to love her.
Lily sighed and quickly took a shower. She got dressed in a short black skirt, a dark green spaghetti-strap shirt, and nice black sandals. She brushed her hair, and her teeth, and ran down the front stairs to the kitchen.
"Morning Charles," she said as she sat down at the table.
"Good Morning, Ms. Lily. Excited about the big day?" he smiled at her.
"Yes! I can't wait, but what if I'm a terrible witch? I only found out about being one a month ago!" Lily said, expressing her fear.
"Don't you worry, Lily. You're a bright girl, and you'll have Master James, and Master Sirius, and of course the lovely Figg sisters to help you. You'll do fine!" Charles smiled.
"But they mentioned something about houses. What if I'm in a different house then Cassie and Bella, and the boys want to pull pranks or something on their own? I'll be all alone," said Lily, scared.
"Master James wouldn't abandon you either way. He thinks very much of you, as do his father, and myself. And you'll meet new friends, no matter what. Calm down, Lily. I promise you'll be great," Charles said kindly.
"Thanks Charles," Lily smiled, and gave him a hug.
"Morning, Charles, Lily!" James said, and skipped into the kitchen.
Lily raised her eyebrows. It wasn't like James to be…er…perky.
"Good morning, James," Lily responded, "Where's-"
"Top o' the morning to ya!" Sirius said, in an extremely fake Irish accent.
"What if I want it to be the bottom?" demanded Cass, looking extremely ruffled and cranky.
"You can't! It'd be the most horrid of all crimes! The poooor little leprechauns of Ireland would be so disappointed, and wouldn't show up at the Quidditch World Cup, and then who knows what sort of disastrous things could happen?!" Sirius asked dramatically, not skipping a beat.
"Shut it, Siri. I think we all know now that Cass isn't a morning person," Bella said, her eyes twinkling.
"Guys? What's quibits?" Lily asked. (A/N: I know that Lily already asked about Quidditch, but here's her real explanation, last time she just got an "It's complicated")
Everyone in the room started cracking up, except for Sirius, who was looking mortally offended.
"It's not quibits," he said in a wounded voice, "It's Quidditch, and Quidditch is only just the greatest sport in the world!"
James nodded his head in agreement, "The excitement! The thrill! You poor, poor deprived child, not knowing the magic of Quidditch!" he added dramatically.
"What's so great about this "Quidditch" guys?" Lily raised her eyebrows, and looked interested.
"Everything!" James and Sirius chorused.
"Real helpful, boys, real helpful," Bella said dryly.
"Shut up Bella!" They chorused.
"What're you two, twins?" Bella and Cass said together, than glared at eachother.
"No, but you two are!" the two boys said at the exact same time, and cracked up.
"Can someone just tell me what the heck Quidditch is?" Lily demanded.
"It's the best sport in the world. It's kinda hard to explain…" James said, getting a dreamy look in his eye. Cassie snorted.
"Let me try. Quidditch is the most popular wizarding sport in the world. It's played in the air, flying on broomsticks. There are seven players on a Quidditch team. There are three chasers, who pass a ball called a quaffle back and forth. Every time a quaffle goes through a hoop it is worth 10 points to the team who scores it. There is a keeper, whose job is to stop the other team's chasers from scoring. There's two beaters who hit these two balls called bludgers at the other team. Bludgers are these black balls that try to knock players off their brooms." She stopped to take a deep breath before diving back into her speech.
"And lastly there is a seeker, who tries to catch a quick, tiny ball called the Golden Snitch before the other team's seeker does. The capture of the snitch, and only its capture, ends a Quidditch game. It also gives 150 points to the team who caught it, so they almost always win. It's the best game, you'll see!" Cass said, and by the time she was done with her mini-lecture she was panting and looking pleased with herself.
"Go Cass!" Bella cheered.
"I know you love me!" Cassie said in a playful tone, "I'll be signing autographs later on!"
Lily laughed. Then Mr. Potter came into the room, looking like a disheveled reck
"What's wrong, Dad?" James asked in a panicky voice. Lily realized with a jolt that it was the first time she heard him calling Mr. Potter 'Dad' and not 'Father.'
"Listen James, I know I promised that I'd take you to Platform 9¾, but there's been an urgent meeting for aurors…not only the BAS, but the AAA as well! And there's the FAFA, the IAU, the ISMF, the SAB, the ASAPMP…I feel terrible! I do…please James? I'll make this up to you. C'mon, I'll visit you if it'll make you happy," Mr. Potter said in a desperate tone.
"No," James said in a hard tone. Lily winced at the coldness in James' voice.
"No?" Mr. Potter asked.
"No. This time, you can't make it up. You say this every time, Dad. I understand that your job is important, and maybe this time it is an emergency. But is it always? My first Quidditch Little League game, you missed. In fact, you haven't been to a QLL game in what? Three years? You missed my birthday four years in a row! Christmas last year too…no dad. You won't visit me. You're schedule wouldn't allow it. I guess this proves something," James said in a hurt voice.
"What?" Mr. Potter asked hesitantly.
"You can't be an auror and a dad-only one. I guess you went with auror," James said with a sad smile, and then ran out of the room, a tear falling down his cheek.
"James!" Mr. Potter yelled, and Lily was shocked to see a very hurt expression on his face. Lily realized that in the month or so that she'd known him, he had looked delighted, maybe angry (at Aunt Isabella), but that was it. No other emotions, no loving looks at James. Lily knew he loved James, but she was willing to bet that James was doubting it at the moment.
"Well, that was rather uncomfortable," Sirius said in a joking tone, but no one laughed (Not even him).
"Is he usually like this?" Lily asked Sirius and Charles.
"No, Master James never has exploded like that…or really imploded, I should say. Crumbled from the inside…poor thing. He really was years over due with that," Charles replied heavily before sitting down.
"I know what the BAS is, but what are the AAA, and the FAFA, the IAU, the ISMF, the SAB, and the ASAPMP?" Lily asked curiously.
"Well, as you know the BAS is the British Auror Society. That's basically Britain's magical police department. The AAA (A/N: said Triple A, not 'A A A') is the American Auror agency, the FAFA is the French Area of Fighting Aurors, the IAU is the Italian Auror Union, the ISMF is the Irish/Scottish Magical Force, and the SAB is the Spanish Auror Bureau. The ASAPMP is the Australian Society Assigned to Protecting Magical People. Why they couldn't choose an easier abbreviation, I don't know…but back to the topic. Those are the seven most powerful branches of Aurors in the world. There are, of course, dozens more-the Canadian force, the Russian, Portuguese…the Portuguese is probably the next in line after the PAG."
"Pag?" Lily asked confused.
"Well, it's really the PAG, not pag, but if that's what you want to call it go right ahead. The PAG is the Powerful Auror Groups. Mr. Potter is the top representative from the BAS, so he's always involved in something or another."
Lily's head swam with all these new terms and information. She was getting quite confused.
"I feel bad for poor James," Bella said, shaking her head.
"Yes, can you imagine? Having a father who's hardly ever home? And no mother at all?" Cassie added, looking solemn, not joyful for one of the first times since Lily had met her.
"Yes," Lily said absentmindedly.
"Lil?" The other three children asked.
"Oh, sorry. But, I haven't had parents since I was six…so I understand a little bit what he's facing…" Lily said, trailing off.
Everyone was silence for a couple of minutes. The only sound in the room was Charles drying dishes. You could here a scratch, scratch, screech! Scratch, scratch, screech!
Lily was about to get up and yank the dishes far out of Charles' reach when James returned. His eyes were bloodshot, but he forced a smile.
"C'mon guys, let's go get ready. We've got to get to Platform 9¾ after all! By 10:30 at the very least. Charles, are you going to take us?" he asked calmly.
"Of course, Master James. Right away!" Charles replied, obviously surprised by James' lack of unhappiness.
"Good. I'll go inform Father that our guests and myself are leaving the Garden. I'll meet you in the limousine at the front quarters of the house," James said in a monotone voice.
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"And here we are!" Charles exclaimed.
"Thank you Charles," James and Sirius chorused.
"Where's Platform 9 ¾? I see platform 9 and 10, but what are we supposed to do? Go in between?" Lily joked.
At that everyone present started to laugh.
"What?" Lily asked, puzzled.
"Well…you actually do have to walk through platforms 9 and 10," Bella said.
"What? You'd crash! Are you people crazy?" Lily asked, looking at them as if they were from Mars (and they probably were).
"No, Miss Lily, look, all you have to do is walk through the wall…do it at a run if you're nervous," Charles explained.
"Are-are you sure?" Lily asked nervously.
"Yes!" They all chorused.
"Are you sure you're sure?" Lily asked again.
"Yes, we're sure we're sure!" They all said again.
"Are you sure you're sure you're sure?" asked You-know-who. (A/N: If I get one person…just ONE person who says the most idiotic remark I've EVER heard, like "Voldemort's here?" I will stop the story…well, maybe not, but you know what I mean.)
"YES WE'RE SURE WE'RE SURE WE'RE SURE!" The whole group bellowed, scaring some small children nearby.
"Ok, no need to shout," Lily said huffily. (A/N: Is that a word? Oh well, is now)
"Just run through the wall!" James said, finally loosing his temper.
"Fine!" Lily said, loosing her temper as well. (They have so much in common)
At that Lily really did run through the wall, and to her surprise, wound up with no injuries whatsoever.
"Hey! It worked!" She exclaimed, before FLOOSH! Sirius landed on top of her.
"Of course it did! What'd you expect?" he asked.
"Well…."
"Oof!" Lily and Sirius panted, as Bella had just fell onto Sirius.
"Well, Bella, I knew you wanted me, but this bad!" Sirius asked, being the obnoxious jerk he was.
"Why I oughta!" Bella said, for once not caring about perfect "Bella-talk" English.
"Ah!" James cried, as he too became part of the human pile-up.
"Oh no, not another person!" Lily grunted in pain, as, after all, she WAS on the bottom of the lot.
"Teronimo!" Cassie shouted, before flying to the top of the pile.
She happily pranced up.
"That was fun! Let's do it again!" She said, her two long braids flying behind her.
"No!" They all shouted, then started to laugh.
"C'mon, let's get on the train," Bella said, and after saying goodbye to Charles, that's just what they did.
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Author's Note: (AKA my favorite part of the fic):
Ok, lot's to say…where should I start? I guess from the beginning…
1. Thanks for all the reviews! I'm so happy that I've been getting so many, especially for only having, what? 6 chapters? Well, 7 now…
2. I just saw the HP movie again…was it just me or did Harry first sit next to Ron, but by the end of the Welcoming Feast he sat next to Hermione?
3. I'm getting there with reading all of your stories! They're great! I'm so glad I'm discovering new stories, as well as getting some great suggestions, compliments, and input from people…please keep reviewing! You all make me so happy!
4. I know I forgot a disclaimer last chapter, so here's one for both of 'em:
Disclaimer: I own:
N as in nada!
O as in only Cass, Bella (kind of), PAG and Charles are mine
T as in there's nothing that is mine
H as in Harry's world doesn't belong to me
I as in everything is a figment of my imagination
N as in never-heard characters are mine
G as in the Goddess JK Rowling owns every good thing.
5. One last thing-I am so sorry this took so long to get out. I've been so busy, and I've been writing this chapter in fragments whenever I can find time. I'm not going to bore you with listing my very busy schedule. I will try to get the next chapter up ASAP! Promise! This actual chapter is a bit shorter, but I didn't want to get into the train ride or sorting just yet-next chapter, I promise. Oh, and if there is a specific house you think someone should be in, let me know in a review!
Here are the wonderful reviewers:
Olivia *^* Sadly, this wasn't too soon, but thanks for the tremendous compliment. Glad you love the story!
Maxcat2564 *^* Thanks for reading and reviewing my story! Hope you like this chapter as well!
Chica *^* hehehe…I just realized that "Chica" means girl in Espanol and I feel incredibly stupid…oh dear. Anyway, I'm glad you 10 to the 900th like my story!
The Alpha *^* Of course I'm gonna keep writing! As long as it does take to get out my chapters, I luv this story! (I'm so modest, aren't I? lol)
Black Sparkles *^* You're welcome from me reviewing your story! Thanks for being such a faithful reviewer to my story!
Avalon *^* I got a smiley :^) Yeah for me! I doubt there'll be romance anytime soon…sorry if that's bad, but come on, they're only 11…the equivalent of 6th grade, & there aren't any serious relationships that early! Thanks for reading!
Cquill13 *^* Oh…thanks so much! I'm glad that you're loving the story! Only sometimes my story is twice as interesting? Just kidding, that was a HUGE compliment, and if people are still interested, the story will continue as long as you guys want!
~*Taylor*~ *^* Ok…we both get chapters out quickly! Deal! Thanks for reviewing MY story so quickly! Hope you like the chapter!
Greengoldfish *^* I got a fancy word! Superb…I feel so special! Thanks for reviewing!
Firenze *^* hehe…I gotta threat! Yeah…ok, I'm tired and hyper, bare with me. Thanks so much for reviewing, I'm glad you like my story!!!
Trixie_the_Witch *^* Yeah! You're the BEST! You gave me my longest review so far ::wipes away tears:: I love you! You live in Finland? How cool…So, did you like the movie? Now I've got pressure on me…I gotta think of something funny AND original for a prank…that could take awhile…hmm. I guess it'll come to me, no? I'm glad your ok with the Writing Speed thingy, I will try to get chapters out quickly though. I didn't fall asleep, I LOVE long reviews! I tend to drone on too-look at my thank-you note for you! Please, feel free to babble all you like in a review!
Eveline & Myrddin Emrys:
I'm sooo sorry for not responding to you guys after you reviewed! You're names never showed up until recently, and I felt so bad! So thank you for reviewing!
Thanks everyone for reviewing! I love getting comments from you guys!
::Hint hink, wink wink::
*Britz*