It was the month of February and classes were in full swing. Friday came and flying lessons were to be held on the quidditch pitch, for the first years were going to have a mock game of quidditch. They used the quaffle, but instead of bludgers they used tennis balls that Madam Hooch would throw and the beaters would fly to it and bat it towards the chasers. For mock snitches, Madam Hooch duplicated several little silver spheres that glistened in the sunlight. She used a charm so that every time she hit one with her bat, the noise would echo loud enough for the seekers to here, and the two would fly to try and grab it while it swerved in mid-air avoiding the players. It wasn't as fast as the real snitch, but it still was pretty hard to catch. Today, the Gryffindors had lessons with the Slytherins, and everyone knows the bad blood between these two houses. Slytherin never really got along with any of the houses, but they pretty much hated Gryffindors to a pulp. Well, in the mock game, the three chasers were indeed, James, Sirius and Remus for the Gryffindors. The three chasers for Slytherin were three boys: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, and Rodolphus Lestrange. These three were the ring leaders of the first year Slytherins, but were also the main targets for the trio of pranksters that were now their opponents in quidditch. The three exchanged menacing glances before the quaffle was released, and both teams were even. Snape and his cronies were good flyers, but they were very dirty players. It was only supposed to be a mock game, but these six chasers were going at it as if it was war. Stealing the quaffle, bumping brooms, and even trying to throw them off their own brooms. Madam Hooch was becoming impatient and tried calming them down, but it was no use. These two teams of chasers were out for blood.
James, Sirius, and Remus, although hating the other three with a passion, respected the rules of the game, and only played dirty when necessary, as in to steal the quaffle. They didn't dare try to kill their opponents, and were skillfully avoiding the threats that the Slytherins gave them. Remus almost got flown off by Lestrange once, and James came to his rescue to help him back up to mounting his broom again. The Slytherins were much to distracted in killing the three Gryffindors, so they were losing the game, 70 – 40.
The other students took turns with the beater and seeker positions. Jade was pretty much pelting the three Slytherins left and right with the tennis balls, and even managed to knock the quaffle out of Snape's hands for Sirius to catch and score. Sirius beamed at Jade with glowing eyes and Jade just gave him a small wink before it was Lily's turn. Lily got the hang of flying, and when it was her turn to be a beater, she was ready. She played softball in her early years, and was known as a good hitter on her team. She knew where to place the ball, and when the tennis ball was thrown up, Lily shot up with her broom and gave the ball a good whack. The ball sailed through the air with speed and smacked Snape right on the forehead, causing the Gryffindors to break down in laughter. James, Sirius, and Remus stopped and started laughing as well, after James took the quaffle from Snape and scored, of course. Snape was indeed furious, and decided to get back at that red-headed beauty. He whispered something to Malfoy and Lestrange, and had dark looks on their faces as Lily took her turn to play the seeker role. Lily heard the loud clanging of the ball and saw it. She immediately started to dive for it, but then Lestrange and Malfoy surrounded her. She had no where to go and was not leading her towards the pillar of one of the hoops. The Gryffindors looked in complete horror, but James took action. He took out his wand and muttered something sending sparks towards Lily's broom. It somehow managed to make the broom to shake off the boys' grips on it, and suddenly swerved over to the left as James jerked his wand to the left. Lily opened her eyes to see that she was fine, and as soon as James saw this, he muttered the countercurse so that Lily was in control of her broom again Lily was so scared she didn't know what was going on, and was receiving hugs from all of her friends. She didn't' know what happened after the two boys surrounded her. She thought she was going to be seriously injured. Everyone was confused at what happened, but Jade looked up and saw James with his wand in his hand, and smoke was coming out of it as if he had just used it for something. James looked at Jade and gave her a nod. She smiled and saw that he put his finger over his own mouth to tell her to keep quiet, figuring that she knew. After all, Jade has never been clueless in her life. She was always aware at what was going on. James figured Lily would never believe that it was him who rescued her from harm's way. Jade nodded and simply told Lily,
"The broom must've malfunctioned right before you hit the pillar, so instead of harming you, it saved you."
Lily looked at her friend all confused but decided to believe her, glad that she was safe. Snape, Malfoy, and Lestrange all had their mouths open in shock at what happened. After class, James, Sirius, and Remus decided to confront the three slimeballs.
"Well, Snivellus, looks like your plan didn't turn out the way it did."
"Shut up, Potter. She deserved it for hitting that thing into my head."
"She was playing fair, Snape. Give her a break!!"
"I'll break something… you want those glasses permanently stuck inside your eyeballs?"
Sirius glared at him with menacing eyes, but Lestrange decided to make a remark.
"That filthy mudblood deserves nothing better."
"Take that back, Rudolph"
"What'd you call me, Black?"
"Rudolph, and I plan on giving you a bloody red nose just for it."
"Try it….."
Remus, being the peacemaker, held his friend back. Malfoy laughed at him.
"Oh, it's Lupin to the rescue, always being the noble one."
"I prefer to think with my head, and not with my rear, Malfoy, so I suggest you take your friends and leave us before things get out of your control."
"And how is that supposed to happen."
"Hello boys, I see there's no trouble here?" Professor McGonagall stepped in between the two groups.
"No, Professor, just discussing quidditch."
"I hope so, Mr. Potter. Now please, off to dinner."
"Yes, Professor."
James, Sirius, and Remus separated themselves from the three Slytherins, but James would never forget what Snape called Lily. He may have hated Lily as well, but calling her a 'mudblood' was something that was just too far. No one disgraced anyone like that without paying for it, and he decided that Snape will pay for it for as long as he lived.
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Severus and his two buddies left towards the Great Hall and ran into the other Gryffindors along the way. They got into a nasty argument, with Malfoy this time, calling Carly and Lily a mudblood. Peter and Frank stepped up and faced them eye-to-eye, but knew they were outnumbered. Alice put a hand on Frank's arm to calm him down, but Lestrange decided to advance on Alice and approached her putting his hands on her hips. She struggled to get away and Lestrange was soon punched out by an angry Frank. Lestrange then managed to roll on top of Frank and began pummeling him to a bloody mess while Peter was being held back by the other two. The girls were screaming for help, and it came in the figures of James, Remus, and Sirus who ran up and pulled the two fighting boys apart. Clearly outnumbered now, the Slytherins stalked off and the others lead Frank to the hospital wing to get treated. After a couple of minutes, everyone decided to head down to dinner to catch a last minute snack before starting their homework, but Alice stayed behind to keep Frank company. Everyone knew that they were together, and this act alone showed how bad the Frank and Alice tried to hide their relationship. Although most of them didn't' approve of them being together when they were this young, they were still happy for both of their friends.
"I think they make a cute couple." said Penny.
"Yeah, I guess so. Frank is always talking about her to me in class." mentioned Peter.
"How nice, but Pete, don't hog all the chicken man. I'm hungry too." said Sirius as Peter chuckled. He and the rest of the group saw James carefully slide his empty plate to replace Sirius' filled one. Sirius didn't notice this and was happily munching away on the chicken that he got.
"Well I agree with you Penny," said Lily. "These boys here are just ignorant. It's sweet what's going on between Frank and Ally. Those two are just made for each other."
"Lily, if you can see that with them, why can't you see that with you and James?" said Jade.
"BECAUSE THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!" both James and Lily shouted.
"See?? You two even manage to yell out the same exact words."
"Just like you and Sirius, I might add." Sirius then looked up.
"Huh?" said Sirius
"Well… well… that's different, Lily."
"How is that different??"
"Because Sirius is an idiot."
"So is James!!"
"I know, but Sirius is more of one."
"I think they're the same…"
"Hmm come to think of it… yeah me too."
James rolles his eyes. "Uh hello… we're right here ya know."
"Good, you can hear us clearly then. It's about time you knew the truth."
"That's not very nice to say to someone that just…."
"Just what, Potter?? Spit it out!"
"Just…. uhh… got a 115% on his Transfiguration exam!"
"Well way to rub it in, you git."
"Thanks, Evans. I'll be sure to rub more of it when we get our Charms exam."
"I already have mine…. I hope you can get more than 135%"
"WHAT??!?!" This was everyone saying this word, joining with James in astonishment.
"What… it's not that big of a deal."
"Oh shut up, Lily. I'll be lucky to even get an average grade." piped up Carly.
"Come on, I know for a fact that all of you manage to get above average, so don't 'oh shut up Lily' me."
"Oh, shut up Lily." said James with a smirk.
"I hate you."
"I hate you too, Lillian." Saying this name forced Lily to chase James out of the room. He managed to dodge her for a bit, snagging a bit of more food before bolting down towards the door with Lily trailing behind.
"Those two lovebirds… I swear. They are just too blind." said Sirius. He still hadn't figured out that his plate was empty and was now chewing on the leftovers that were stuck in between his teeth, which he thought was food from his plate.
Jade shook her head and patted Sirius on the back. "It's ok, Sirius. We're all like that sometimes." This earned stifled giggles from everyone else and a confused Sirius still munching away.
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Severus sat down in the Slytherin common room with a scowl on his face. Rodolphus, Lucius, and Bellatrix were still snickering at him from the flying lesson.
"I can't believe you let a mudblood hit you in the head." said Lucius.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault. You were supposed to cover me."
"I was too busy trying to knock out Lupin, wasn't my fault."
"Oh come on, lighten up." interrupted Rodolphus. "We certainly taught them a lesson afterwards. That lowlife Longbottom is now in the hospital wing, crying out blood from under his eyes."
"That was bloody brilliant, I must say you are a very strong man, Rod, dearest."
"Thanks Trix," and kissed her on the lips.
"That's just gross." said Snape. Get away from me when you two do that.
"Sure Sevvy-boy, you and your sick mind would be wandering off to some happy place where you would be snogging that Evans girl forever."
"Shut up, Lucy. You know very well that I despise all muggle-borns. Especially Gryffindors."
"Don't call me Lucy. I hate that."
"That's not what Narcissa says, Lucy-boy." teased Bellatrix.
"Oh shut up."
Severus ignored the bickering of his friends and concentrated on getting revenge on Potter and his little gang. He thinks he's so high and mighty. He's nothing but a lowlife arrogant bastard that has nothing better to do than cause a ruckus wherever he goes. Severus Snape HATED, I mean HATED, James Potter. Though similar in the fact that they are both intelligent wizards. They were very different, causing more friction between the two. First of all, James had an outgoing personality, but to someone like Snape, who is almost antisocial himself, James to him seemed to be a boasting hothead, who praises himself for all his glories. He sees James every time they get back their potions exams. Though Severus usually got the highest, James would always flaunt his paper at his friends, making it seem like he was a god of the subject. Another difference is that James being a pureblood, took a liking to muggle-borns. Now Snape could tolerate muggle-borns himself, but in order to look good in front of his friends, he had to say that awful word to Lily Evans, whom he secretly admired, but refused to everyone, including himself. Lily was different, mainly because she was highly smart, and when it wasn't himself that got top marks in potions, it was none other than Lily herself. He admired her intelligence as well as her beauty, and really couldn't understand why she would associate herself with awful companions like Potter and that crazy girl, Jade Chapman. Other than Lily, any other 'mudbloods' were considered worthless to him, but James treated everyone as equal, and Severus didn't take this lightly. He thought at the time that pure-bloods were much better wizards then muggle-borns, but then thinking about Lily Evans, merely contradicted his thoughts again. This Evans girl is seriously clouding up my thoughts. I need some time to think for myself. With this in mind, he walked off to his room, leaving his three friends snickering about Frank's recent beating.
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Meanwhile, back at the hospital wing, the Gryffindor first years were all going to visit Frank in the hospital wing. Knowing that Alice was in there as well, they all peeked into the room first, and just saw a glimpse of Alice leaning over to kiss Frank on the lips. Penny let out a loud sigh that blowed their cover, and Alice jumped back,almost falling off of her chair. The others laughed and entered the room, teasing the couple constantly.
"And you tried to hide it from us, too, you can't hide anything from us!!!" shouted Sirius.
"I wouldn't say that Sirius… you still don't even know that James took all of your food at dinner." teased Jade.
"Ummmm… of course I did. I was just testing you guys."
"Sure Sirius.. remember. You can't hide ANYTHING from us!" said Carly while everyone else laughed.
Sirius gave a mock pout but went back smiling again as Penny mentioned something to Lily and James..
"So Lily, how was chasing James around the bloody school, I heard you cornered him at the Astronomy Tower? You know what else that place is known for, right?"
"NO, WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING OF THAT SORT, PENNY."
"Yeah, I mean seriously, Penny… you think I'd kiss… THAT?!?!"
"Oh come off it, Potter. As if I would even come close to an ugly species like you."
"The James Potter species doesn't associate with fire-flowers such as yourself, Evans. James is reserved for more… delicate creatures."
"You have such a big head, I'm surprised it even fits through a door." muttered Carly. James smiled and held up his hands in mock surrender ending the conversation.
"Well, I talked to McGonagall, and she said she'll let me announce the games next year!!" chimed Peter. "So you better make the team like you all promised. It wouldn't be any fun without you three in it. You too, of course, Jade."
"Gee, thanks Pete." Jade droned, but was inwardly pleased that she got some attention as well as the three other boys.
"I'm going to train extra over the summer just so I can make it to the team." said James. "Besides I overheard Madam Hooch in the hallways talking to our trusty Captain Wood, and she's been saying good things about us four, so have no fear, Pete!"
They all smiled and checked the clock realizing how much time passed by. Lily decided to call it a night.
"Well I'm off, I have to go do something. Frank, I hope you feel better tomorrow. Good night everyone."
"Wait for us, Lily!!" the other five girls chorused. One by one each of them left but before Lily walked out the door, James said,
"Hey Evans, what was it that you were gonna do…. trying to plan my downfall, are you?"
"Oh that's already been done."
James gulped. "Oh… well have fun doing whatever you're doing then."
"I'm sure I will Potter. Let's just say…. I have a bit of light 'reading' to catch up on." Lily smiled a little at him and walked off, while James beamed at her statement.
"What'd she mean, by that?" asked Remus.
"Nothing, Remi… let's just say it's an 'enemy' sort of thing."
"Whatever you say, bud."
The boys spent another hour talking with Frank before heading up. On the way, they came across another passageway they found behind one of the knight statues. They memorized the surroundings of it, and decided to go explore where it goes over the weekend. On the way back, Sirius was explaining to the boys his thoughts on where the passage might lead, but James wasn't listening all that much. Far in the back of his mind, he was talking to himself, repeating three words that made him want to jump for joy.
She likes it…she likes it…she likes it…