FOREVER
Year Two
Part 2/
Wind blew Lily Evan's auburn hair about her. It whipped her neck harshly but the eleven year-old witch barely noticed. She surveyed the gray sky with knitted brows as an increasing number of clouds formed knots in the sky closely resembling the ones in her stomach. She felt a tapping on her shoulder taking her back to reality and away from her cloud observations. She spun around to find James Potter grinning knowingly at her.
"Here to watch me tryout, huh Lily." It wasn't a question. She blushed and mumbled something under her breath.
"What?" He asked.
"Actually I was going to tryout myself." She said louder this time but with no more confidence. Lily gripped her broom. It was only a school model, nothing near as fancy or good as James' new Asteroid 9000, which was gleaming in the sun. Lily weighed her chances of getting picked against someone like Potter who already had the advantage of a good broom. They weren't good. She sighed defeatedly and wished him good luck just before Josh Anderson, a sixth year keeper, called them over.
" We need one chaser, two beaters, and a seeker. The tryouts will work by year starting with the second years. Each recruit will get to try each position. There are six years to go through so be prepared for a long day. " He said sizing the all up. "All right will the second years please mount their brooms. Sirius Black will you try seeker first, Lily Evans you try beater, and James you try chaser. Okay ready, set, play." Lily felt herself rise and all her doubts left her. She soared about feeling very free. The three of them played a game of Quidditch like they had thousands of times before, forgetting that Josh or anyone else was watching them below. Lily was a miserable beater and an OK chaser but as seeker she was really in her element. Lily caught the snitch for the fifth time in ten minutes when Josh called them down and the third years went up.
They sat in the stadium and commented on each of the players as they went up.
"Ryan Bash's an awesome beater!" James commented as Ryan blocked yet another bludger.
"Madison Wylie's got talent as a seeker, though her flying could use improvement." Lily speculated. At one point Sirius even took a nap. Finally as the last of the seventh years touched the ground Josh called them over again.
"I've been watching you and you all did fantastic. Unfortunately I can't choose every one, so if your name isn't called then there is always next year. If our name is called as a primary player I will see you Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from six to eight. If you are a back up I will see you Saturdays from eleven to one. Any questions?" Everyone shook his or her heads. "Good, for the primary beaters we have:
Ryan Bash & Samantha Kravitz
For the backup beaters:
Sirius Black & Max Walker
For chaser:
James Potter
For backup chaser:
Karen Moisley
For seeker:
Lily Evans
For backup seeker:
Madison Wylie
Okay see you all on Tuesday." He finished, walking up to the castle followed by twenty or so dismal faced Gryffindors. Lily stood stalk still, not daring to make a move for fear it had all been a dream. She had been chosen! Sirius clapped her on the back.
"Congratulations Lily!" He said grinning. Lily looked at him with growing excitement as it was just sinking in.
"You too Sirius, and you James." She smiled at them brimming with joy.
"Never knew you had it in you Lil." James said with admiration. "Wait until Anna, and Tina find. Why are they here any way?" He asked scanning the stadium for two familiar brunettes. "I mean Remus was prohibited to due to. um.. lunar difficulties, and Peter has a detention. What's their excuse?" He rambled. Lily studied the ground.
"I didn't tell them." She said finally avoiding their confused looks. "If I wasn't chosen I couldn't bear to have them see me fail. I don't know how they would react." She explained quietly preparing herself for laughter but instead was given silence. She slowly met their gazes.
"Lily we have got to work in your confidence in your friends!" James said putting his arm around her shoulder. The three of them walked back to the castle happily.
Charms Classroom
"out Out OUT!" Filch the ornery caretaker shouted. Sirius had spilled gopher guts all over the room unfortunately when Filch was passing their workroom. Lily hastily gathered her books, careful to hide the titles for fear they would be confiscated. She and the boys had worked to hard sneaking out into the restricted section to let them be taken away now. She left the room closely followed by Remus, Peter, and James. Sirius was still inside being chewed out by the ever-annoyed Filch. When Filch had finally finished giving Sirius detention for the rest of his life he joined them.
"Now what are we going to do?" Peter whined looking to James for a solution as always.
"Find another room I guess." James sighed.
"NO WAY! We've been kicked out of every privet room this side of Ravenclaw!" Sirius cried out in frustration. "I'm this close to opening these books in front of every one in the common room just so I can sit down." He made a motion with his hands to show how close he was. Lily stifled a giggle. Sirius was just about to continue, when he noticed Remus' increasingly pale face.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"Come on you guys, I think I saw a room a few corridors past History of Magic." He started toward the room with four tired sets of feet shuffling behind. James didn't even have to go that far though, because the History of Magic room itself was deserted. Slumping into various positions around the classroom the scanned through book after book. The afternoon became twilight and, much to the Sirius' distress they missed dinner. Sirius complained very loudly about torturing your best friend by starvation and the affects it had on the said best friend's sanity, AKA Sirius. It got to the point where Lily couldn't even keep her eyes open let alone support her head but she was determined to find something. At about half past nine Peter and Remus left, and an hour and a half later Sirius stated that if he didn't eat soon he would die. So at eleven James and Lily were left alone. Lily was just about to close her last book for the night when her eye caught something. She went to the beginning of the page and read in depth a smile of complete delight spread over her face.
"James!" She called waking him up from his "nap" "I found something." She literally bounced to his desk to show him. James read over the page quickly before laughing. In a fit of delight he looked up and pulled her into a hug. She grinned, elated.
"Lets go tell them!" He near shouted gathering his stuff. She could only nod.
Two Months later
Lily giggled as a strand of her red hair fell into her eyes. She pushed it away and ran all the harder as she saw two of her best friends, James and Sirius, disappear sound the corner. She knew tag was juvenile, Petunia had told her so all summer long, but she just didn't care. Lily turned the next bend a little too sharply and skidded to a stop to avoid collision into a wall. Her attempt came too late though. She cried out for help but James and Sirius were no where to be seen. Lily toppled through the seemingly stable wall to find herself on her hands and knees in front of her friends in a crimson room. She cried out in delight as they all yelled.
"Surprise, Happy Birthday." Lily stood up bashfully. She hated being the center of attention, and yet no matter how she avoided it, it happened anyway. This was the second straight year that they had planned a surprise party. Probably because they knew she would hide in a corner all night if they told her about it. Last year it had been the whole Gryffindor house but this year thankfully, the party consisted of the eight people she cared the most about except for her family. They broke out in a loud rendition of 'Happy Birthday' When the singing had finally stopped Lily didn't know when she had been more grateful. Sirius had a horrible voice and unfortunately had taken it upon himself to sing the loudest.
Tina stepped forward with a bag which she handed to Lily with smile.
"These arrived for you this morning. We had such a time trying to hide them before you woke up." She giggled at the memory. Lily took them from her and opened her gifts happily. From
Mom: A beautiful gold watch.
Dad: A cloak that changed colors to match the rest of your outfit.
Petunia: A single already-sucked-on lollipop. Lily sighed at her twin's gift. She had after all spent a good portion of her summer savings on Petunia's gift and had taken great care to write her a birthday card this morning. Lily just wished that her sister would like her.
Aunt Violet: A beautiful Star's dust 360- a top of the line broom.
Roslyn: A Quidditch set complete with all the balls, hoops, and referees whistle.
Tina: A magical snow globe that could show you any exotic place in the world with a simple spell.
Anna: An adorable black kitten who Lily affectionately named soot.
Remus: Much needed art supplies including charcoal and water colors.
Peter: A bag full of her favorite sweets.
Sirius: A photo album half filled with pictures of her and her friends, and a copy of Quidditch through the Ages
Eric: earrings
James: A magic book that lets you read about what the person you love most is doing at that exact moment. (Lily's father was paying bills)
Finally, much to Sirius' delight, it was time for cake.
"So what is this place?" Lily asked taking it all in for the first time. "Why all the red?" The card table at which they were seated was red along with the folded up chairs. To her right was a fireplace made out of brick and two crimson plush chairs. Directly in front of her was a bookcase made out of redwood and filled with leather bound books. To her left was a couch, which matched the rest of the décor. The ceiling though, was what really caught her attention. It was a detailed painting of the Roman war god Mars.
"I dunno." Roslyn said with a mouthful of cake. "James found it a couple of days ago cleaned it up for your party." Lily flashed James a thank-you grin. The chatter slowly turned to the upcoming Quidditch match against Hufflepuff.
"Are you nervous?" Eric asked James.
"No way, Gryffindor really has a chance against Hufflepuff. I've been to a few of their practices and they're not nearly as good as we are." James said confidently. James won and held Lily and every guy theres (with exception of Sirius who was eating the last of the cake) undivided attention for close to a half an hour discussing possible plays. They didn't even notice when Roslyn, Tina, and Anna left. Nor did they notice Peter, Remus, or Sirius' absence.
"Did you see Lily, while James was talking?" Sirius asked a wicked grin playing on his lips. Remus nodded.
"I have three words: head over heels." They laughed.
"James wasn't exactly showing hatred for our dear birthday girl though." Remus pointed out, an evil sparkle in his eye.
Breakfast one week later
Lily stared sadly at her breakfast catching Severus Snape's eye as he passed. Just as she had planned he couldn't resist.
"What's the matter mudblood? Your mother dead?" He hissed.
"Go away Snape." She sighed.
"Since you asked… no! I think I will stay right here." He put his glass down next to her and stood there making obscene comments. Good just a little longer, a little longer. James where is that potion? I can't take this much longer. I seriously want to fight back. Just then Lily heard the swooshing of pouring liquid behind her. She almost grinned with relief but stopped herself when she remembered she was playacting.
"Go AWAY!" She snapped. He glared at her before taking a swig of his drink. The effect was instantaneous. Snape's bad hygene became even more apparent as his hair grew to shoulder length. That wasn't the only change that had taken place though. His body had definitely taken a turn for the feminine. The effects were extremely nasty and to avoid any sickness a description might cause the reader let's just say that curves do not suit him. Lily discreetly pulled out her wand and said the braiding charm. Sirius and James couldn't hold it in any longer, the sight of Snape with pigtails was too much and soon they were found howling on the ground with laughter. Snape, unaware of the changes watched them suddenly start to laugh with satisfaction. He had always known they were crazy and this just proved his point in his mind. When James had gotten a hold of himself he grinned cheekily at Snape.
"Always knew you were a bit of a girl, Snape. Brave of you to show you true colors like this, really it is." He said in a would-be admiring tone.
"What are you going on about now?" Snape snapped irritated. He was quite convinced that they were daft at this point and was vaguely wondering if it was contagious. Sirius, still laughing, clutched his stomach with one hand and pointed to Snape's braids with the other. Snape toughed them gingerly with growing horror evident on his face and he fled.
Quidditch Match
Lily held onto her broom for dear life. Although the day was clear and crisp a wind blew from the north and tossed Lily about shamelessly. She scanned the sky for a glimpse of gold that could prove a win for Gryffindor. Not that It mattered. James was scoring disgracefully and Hufflepuff didn't stand a chance.
"0-290 Gryffindor" Cried Mandy Anderson the announcer. She was a Ravenclaw third-year and Josh's sister so she tended to be bias toward Gryffindor. "Potter is scoring left and right. Shameful considering that he's a second year and Hufflepuff's keeper is a seventh year. Evans and Pinceli are still looking for the snitch. Wait I think Pinceli's spotted it. He's racing toward it. Evan sees it too. And…. Pinceli's got the snitch! Listen to this Pinceli caught the snitch but Gryffindor won! Thanks to Potter. Game over!" Mandy was practically screaming. The crowd erupted in earsplitting cheers carrying the players on their shoulders. As Lily was carried back to the common room she decided it was a perfect end to a perfect day.
