Author's note: Another review for chapter three!! Yay! Thanks Jenn!!!!!
Here comes chapter four!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: Just read my other disclaimers. I can't think of any other way of saying what I've said before. I'm a bit lazy right now!
Chapter Four- Quidditch practice
Weeks passed by and Halloween was a few short days away. It wasn't Lily's favorite holiday, but with the Hogsmeade visit and the Feast, it was a day worth looking forward to. The next holiday would be Christmas, almost two months away and Halloween festivities managed to keep Lily sane despite all the homework she was being assigned and her duties as prefect. Being a prefect wasn't too bad actually; to Lily it seemed like being a big sister to fourth years and under. The Tuesday before Halloween, which fell on a Saturday that year, Lily took note of the Quidditch openings on each team on a sign in the common room after classes. Gryffindor needed two new chasers. Lily sighed. From what she saw of the games, Quidditch seemed like the kind of sport she would want to play, despite her current in capabilities on a broomstick. She hadn't been on one since first year lessons; she was actually a good flier, but her extensive studying kept her far away from the Quidditch field. Camille, one of the girls in Lily's dorm, entered the common room and as soon as she saw Lily, walked over there.
"Lily. are you planning to try out for the Quidditch team? It'd be nice if you did."
Camille was one of the team's beaters. Even if she didn't look aggressive in school, she most certainly was on the Quidditch field. Lily shook her head sadly.
"I'm too busy to juggle schoolwork, prefect duties and Quidditch practices and games all together."
"Well, if James can, you can also. You do know James is captain this year, right?" "Really? I think he plays okay." Lily said, making Camille frown.
"Just okay?" Lily shrugged.
"Yeah."
"James is one of the best chasers Hogwarts has seriously ever known. you need to watch more Quidditch games, Lily. Tell you what, there's practice for returning members tonight, some time after dinner. You should come." Camille offered.
Lily suddenly felt uneasy, fearing a team member might dare her to fly.
"Oh, I don't know. I still have homework to do and it'll take a while..."
"Are you sure?" Camille put on a sad face.
"Oh fine, I'll see how it goes. Jus as long as I sit in the stands, I suppose I'll be okay."
"Hey, we work hard and we hardly play around during practice, so no balls would be aimed towards you."
Two and a half hours later, roughly 6 in the evening, lily walked towards the Quidditch field with Camille. Tryouts for the team had been right after classes, so Gryffindor had two new Chasers: Sean, a fourth year, and Sophia, a third year. They wouldn't be joining practice until the following week since James had to first drill them on the basics. Lily slipped into the shadows and made her way up to the Gryffindor stands while Camille joined the rest of the team. The chasers were James (sixth year), Sophia (third year), and Sean (fourth year). The two beaters were Camille (sixth year) and Cameron (fifth year). Anna (fifth year) was the seeker and Liam (fifth year) was the keeper. They had done several laps around the field before practicing dealing the Quaffle, golf balls and the beaters' bats. Camille hadn't old anyone that Lily was there since she didn't want to be noticed. However, during the passing of the Quaffle, James noticed that somebody was in the Gryffindor stands.
"Who's sitting over there?" he curiously asked to nobody in particular before starting to fly out to the stand where Lily was sitting.
Camille, who was helping out Anna by throwing golf balls to her, saw James heading towards the stands. Knowing that Lily wouldn't want to be seen, she chucked one of the golf balls at James' head. It didn't hit him, but James saw the object coming towards him and went out to catch it.
"Gotcha!" he said gleefully but swept into panic when he lost balance on his broom.
Before anyone could go out to catch him, James fell and hit the ground hard. Lily had seen the whole thing and rushed down to see what happened. She got there the same time as the rest of the team. Liam was the first to step up to check James, who seemed to be unconscious.
"Blimey, he fell gain! Well at least we're on practice right now."
Cameron added in, "Yeah, he manages to fall off his broom once every few practices. And then he pretends to be knocked out."
Cameron stuck his foot into James' side. "Come on, James, stop playing around, there's another half hour left," he said but to no response.
"Guys," Lily said shakily.
"I don't think he's playing around."
"How would you know?" Liam asked testily.
"My dad is frail and can go unconscious easily and often. I know when somebody's unconscious by now. We'll take him to the hospital wing, who's going to help me?"
Fifteen minutes later, Lily and Cameron, with the rest of the Quidditch team behind them, carried James into the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was disappointed that James had fallen once again but relieved none of them took their time getting James to the hospital wing. Then she sent everybody out. They went back to the field to retrieve their belongings and headed back up to the Tower since their captain was lying unconscious in the hospital wing. Camille and Lily talked on the way back to the Tower. Camille was almost unrecognizable with her rosy cheeks, tossed around hair and lively enthusiasm from practice.
"So, what'd you think of it, besides that incident?"
Lily shrugged.
"It was cool, you're all really good players."
"Thanks!"
"You're welcome, but tell me, does James really fall down as often as mentioned?"
Camille nodded fervently.
"Oh yeah, about two times a month. Some say he falls through lack of focus, people make him fall, others say because of inefficient use of the broomstick. Just to name those. I think he just does it to get a kick out of scaring us."
'Typical," Lily sighed as they went into the common room.
As soon as she could, after finding out James was still in the wing, Lily went to pay him a visit. When she arrived at his bed, he had bandages on his left arm and by the look he had, Lily could tell he was feeling nothing less than restless.
"Good morning," he said as she approached him.
"Hi James, how're you doing?"
"Mm, what an uninteresting question," James said irritably.
Lily shrugged.
"I'll just go then." and turned away to leave.
"Wait," James called.
Lily turned around.
"Yes?"
"Why'd you come?"
"I saw you fall, helped carry you up here. it seemed natural to come check on how you're doing."
"Thanks."
Then Lily suddenly remembered something she meant to ask.
"James, do you know who told McGonagall that I wasn't here on the first day"
James tensed up.
"Why do you want to know?"
"That person's about to become a good friend of mine. Only one person reported I was missing and it's not any of my friends. I asked."
Just when James was about to say it was him, Madame Pomfrey noticed Lily.
"Lily! What are you doing here? Go on to class now."
She took Lily and led her to the door.
"I'll come by again later," she called out to James before Madame Pomfrey closed the door behind her.
James sighed.
"Darn."
Disclaimer: Just read my other disclaimers. I can't think of any other way of saying what I've said before. I'm a bit lazy right now!
Chapter Four- Quidditch practice
Weeks passed by and Halloween was a few short days away. It wasn't Lily's favorite holiday, but with the Hogsmeade visit and the Feast, it was a day worth looking forward to. The next holiday would be Christmas, almost two months away and Halloween festivities managed to keep Lily sane despite all the homework she was being assigned and her duties as prefect. Being a prefect wasn't too bad actually; to Lily it seemed like being a big sister to fourth years and under. The Tuesday before Halloween, which fell on a Saturday that year, Lily took note of the Quidditch openings on each team on a sign in the common room after classes. Gryffindor needed two new chasers. Lily sighed. From what she saw of the games, Quidditch seemed like the kind of sport she would want to play, despite her current in capabilities on a broomstick. She hadn't been on one since first year lessons; she was actually a good flier, but her extensive studying kept her far away from the Quidditch field. Camille, one of the girls in Lily's dorm, entered the common room and as soon as she saw Lily, walked over there.
"Lily. are you planning to try out for the Quidditch team? It'd be nice if you did."
Camille was one of the team's beaters. Even if she didn't look aggressive in school, she most certainly was on the Quidditch field. Lily shook her head sadly.
"I'm too busy to juggle schoolwork, prefect duties and Quidditch practices and games all together."
"Well, if James can, you can also. You do know James is captain this year, right?" "Really? I think he plays okay." Lily said, making Camille frown.
"Just okay?" Lily shrugged.
"Yeah."
"James is one of the best chasers Hogwarts has seriously ever known. you need to watch more Quidditch games, Lily. Tell you what, there's practice for returning members tonight, some time after dinner. You should come." Camille offered.
Lily suddenly felt uneasy, fearing a team member might dare her to fly.
"Oh, I don't know. I still have homework to do and it'll take a while..."
"Are you sure?" Camille put on a sad face.
"Oh fine, I'll see how it goes. Jus as long as I sit in the stands, I suppose I'll be okay."
"Hey, we work hard and we hardly play around during practice, so no balls would be aimed towards you."
Two and a half hours later, roughly 6 in the evening, lily walked towards the Quidditch field with Camille. Tryouts for the team had been right after classes, so Gryffindor had two new Chasers: Sean, a fourth year, and Sophia, a third year. They wouldn't be joining practice until the following week since James had to first drill them on the basics. Lily slipped into the shadows and made her way up to the Gryffindor stands while Camille joined the rest of the team. The chasers were James (sixth year), Sophia (third year), and Sean (fourth year). The two beaters were Camille (sixth year) and Cameron (fifth year). Anna (fifth year) was the seeker and Liam (fifth year) was the keeper. They had done several laps around the field before practicing dealing the Quaffle, golf balls and the beaters' bats. Camille hadn't old anyone that Lily was there since she didn't want to be noticed. However, during the passing of the Quaffle, James noticed that somebody was in the Gryffindor stands.
"Who's sitting over there?" he curiously asked to nobody in particular before starting to fly out to the stand where Lily was sitting.
Camille, who was helping out Anna by throwing golf balls to her, saw James heading towards the stands. Knowing that Lily wouldn't want to be seen, she chucked one of the golf balls at James' head. It didn't hit him, but James saw the object coming towards him and went out to catch it.
"Gotcha!" he said gleefully but swept into panic when he lost balance on his broom.
Before anyone could go out to catch him, James fell and hit the ground hard. Lily had seen the whole thing and rushed down to see what happened. She got there the same time as the rest of the team. Liam was the first to step up to check James, who seemed to be unconscious.
"Blimey, he fell gain! Well at least we're on practice right now."
Cameron added in, "Yeah, he manages to fall off his broom once every few practices. And then he pretends to be knocked out."
Cameron stuck his foot into James' side. "Come on, James, stop playing around, there's another half hour left," he said but to no response.
"Guys," Lily said shakily.
"I don't think he's playing around."
"How would you know?" Liam asked testily.
"My dad is frail and can go unconscious easily and often. I know when somebody's unconscious by now. We'll take him to the hospital wing, who's going to help me?"
Fifteen minutes later, Lily and Cameron, with the rest of the Quidditch team behind them, carried James into the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was disappointed that James had fallen once again but relieved none of them took their time getting James to the hospital wing. Then she sent everybody out. They went back to the field to retrieve their belongings and headed back up to the Tower since their captain was lying unconscious in the hospital wing. Camille and Lily talked on the way back to the Tower. Camille was almost unrecognizable with her rosy cheeks, tossed around hair and lively enthusiasm from practice.
"So, what'd you think of it, besides that incident?"
Lily shrugged.
"It was cool, you're all really good players."
"Thanks!"
"You're welcome, but tell me, does James really fall down as often as mentioned?"
Camille nodded fervently.
"Oh yeah, about two times a month. Some say he falls through lack of focus, people make him fall, others say because of inefficient use of the broomstick. Just to name those. I think he just does it to get a kick out of scaring us."
'Typical," Lily sighed as they went into the common room.
As soon as she could, after finding out James was still in the wing, Lily went to pay him a visit. When she arrived at his bed, he had bandages on his left arm and by the look he had, Lily could tell he was feeling nothing less than restless.
"Good morning," he said as she approached him.
"Hi James, how're you doing?"
"Mm, what an uninteresting question," James said irritably.
Lily shrugged.
"I'll just go then." and turned away to leave.
"Wait," James called.
Lily turned around.
"Yes?"
"Why'd you come?"
"I saw you fall, helped carry you up here. it seemed natural to come check on how you're doing."
"Thanks."
Then Lily suddenly remembered something she meant to ask.
"James, do you know who told McGonagall that I wasn't here on the first day"
James tensed up.
"Why do you want to know?"
"That person's about to become a good friend of mine. Only one person reported I was missing and it's not any of my friends. I asked."
Just when James was about to say it was him, Madame Pomfrey noticed Lily.
"Lily! What are you doing here? Go on to class now."
She took Lily and led her to the door.
"I'll come by again later," she called out to James before Madame Pomfrey closed the door behind her.
James sighed.
"Darn."