Thanks to the following reviewers:
Cherry Flavoured Hippo: I know what you mean! He's a lot like some people I know!
Emily Woodmark: You're very welcome!
Ling Radcliffe: Thank you very much for the compliment!
: Thanks!
Natalia: Thanks for both of your posts! Lol! I really appreciate it!
Hpfan1750: I'm glad I did too! I really missed this story! Hope you enjoy this next chapter! Oh, and the whole rubber band thing? Try to remember how much Lily isn't very fond of James! I wouldn't go so far as to say hate.
A/N: None of my reviewers has said it yet, but I do realize my chapters are kind of.well, short! So I'm trying to make them longer! I really am! Starting with the chapter after this next one! Which might just take a little more time between updates! Especially now that school's started (EVIL!)! Just wanted to apologize in advance! And on with the chapter.
CHAPTER 5:
Two months later, life at Hogwarts for James was in full swing. The Quidditch season was starting in a week, and he was possibly the most excited person at Hogwarts. As Quidditch captain for Gryffindor, it was his job to seek out new prospects to replace those who had graduated the previous year. This year, he was looking for a new chaser and keeper. James was very excited, and had posted the tryout times in the common room the week before. He had managed to get everyone else almost as excited as he. But not quite.
Today was tryout day, and James had finished dressing in his Quidditch robes. He was now on the pitch, facing his new prospects with his hands on his hips.
"Alright, to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, you've got to know what it takes. You'll have to be prepared for playing in any weather conditions, and you'll have to make it to practices on time," James started his speech, stressing the last two words. He had been mulling over this for the past couple of weeks. He wanted to make a hard-core impression on the other students, so there would be no messing around later in the year for important games, when it mattered. However, his intent concentration on the students was broken as he was rudely interrupted by a shout.
"Hey, Potter! Wait!" Lily Evans dashed across the Quidditch pitch, robes on, broom in hand.
James looked exasperated as he watched the redhead bound towards him. As she drew closer, he asked, irritated, "What do you want?"
Not missing a beat, Lily replied, "Obviously, I'm here to try out for the Quidditch team."
"Yes, but why?!?" James asked, scrunching up his face.
Lily had a look on her face that clearly showed what she thought of James' intelligence level, "Obviously, I love Quidditch. Even you should know that, being the dumb ass that you are."
James looked a little dumbfounded. He turned a bit red as some of the students auditioning started to snicker, "Well I don't know you very well, so maybe I wouldn't know that simply.delightful fact."
"Well, me being here might've given you a hint!" Lily replied, a smirk on her face, arms crossed.
James' red tinge deepened as he looked away from Lily, "As I was saying."
His speech went on for a good twenty minutes before finally, he announced, "All right! Now, people trying out for keeper, please gather on my left. Those trying out for chaser, gather on my right!"
However excited or overwhelmed by power he was, James did not fail to notice Lily walk to his right side.
"We'll start with keepers!" James shouted, Lily's face in the corner of his eye, "Chasers! Please stay here!"
After much waiting for the chasers, and many drills for the keepers, James left his keepers at the side of the pitch, and headed over to the chasers, "All right, first, I want you all to fly through the obstacle course I've set up in the air. Then, we'll test you out on the keepers."
And so they did. James was surprised to see Lily excel at the highly- coveted chaser position. She was probably one of the best ones there. However, Crystal Towers was pretty damn good, too, and she didn't seem to hate James nearly as much as Lily did. It was going to be a tough decision.
"So what should I do?" James breathed, placing his hands on his knees. Tryouts had been over for an hour, and here he was, waiting for and answer from his three friends: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and of course, Sirius, who were all staring back at James, eyebrows raised. For a few moments, there was silence, until Sirius replied slowly, "So you either pick the hot girl who is clearly the best at what she does, and who also happens to make your life, as you described, a living hell.OR! You pick the nice shy girl who, although good at what she does, does not hold a candle to girl number one.Am I right?"
James nodded, rubbing his chin, his brow furrowed as he thought, "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." He looked back at his friends for the verdict.
Remus laughed, "James, you need serious help."
James looked bewildered, and exclaimed, "Yes! That's why I came to you people!" Peter stared back and forth at each speaker.
Remus stopped laughing and replied, "No, I meant serious help, not us!"
James looked confused, "You mean Sirius?"
"No, I mean qualified help!"
"You people are as qualified to solve my problems as one gets!"
"No, I mean professional help!" Remus exclaimed, getting fed up with James' inability to understand the words that were coming out of his mouth.
Before James could reply, Sirius interrupted, "James! This isn't even a question!" He laughed, standing up.
James slowly replied, "Well, if I'm asking it, I think it does indeed qualify as a question. Who do I choose?"
Remus shook his head, "James, think about it.Who's the one who can get you that Quidditch Cup?"
Sirius smiled and he and Remus walked to the boys' dormitory with Peter following closely behind.
James sank back in his seat, realization dawning on him.
"Lily, I need to talk to you," James stated boldly. He was standing in front of the redhead, who was chatting it up in front of the fire with Evan, Patrick, Andrea and two other Gryffindor girls, Cordelia Adams and Melissa White.
Lily stared up at him questioningly. James almost got lost inside those bright green whirlpools. There was just something about them.
He shook himself out of it in time to hear Lily reply, "Sure."
They walked over to the corner of the room. Lily looked confused and suspicious, but said nothing. Reluctantly, James spoke, "I just thought you should be the first to know, that.if you still want to be, you are the new Gryffindor chaser."
Lily absolutely lit up, "Oh, I do! I want to be the new chaser!" She was indeed, so excited, that without thinking, she wrapped her arms around James and gave him a hug.
James didn't pull away. He felt comfortable, because Lily was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, which ruled out any possible way of slipping some sort of knife up her sleeve.
He probably could've stayed in that position all day, but he knew Evan was still in the common room, and it would've been too risky.
Either way, Lily pulled away, and for the first time ever, she gave him a genuine smile. All natural, 100% concentrate, no sarcasm or cockiness added.
Cherry Flavoured Hippo: I know what you mean! He's a lot like some people I know!
Emily Woodmark: You're very welcome!
Ling Radcliffe: Thank you very much for the compliment!
: Thanks!
Natalia: Thanks for both of your posts! Lol! I really appreciate it!
Hpfan1750: I'm glad I did too! I really missed this story! Hope you enjoy this next chapter! Oh, and the whole rubber band thing? Try to remember how much Lily isn't very fond of James! I wouldn't go so far as to say hate.
A/N: None of my reviewers has said it yet, but I do realize my chapters are kind of.well, short! So I'm trying to make them longer! I really am! Starting with the chapter after this next one! Which might just take a little more time between updates! Especially now that school's started (EVIL!)! Just wanted to apologize in advance! And on with the chapter.
CHAPTER 5:
Two months later, life at Hogwarts for James was in full swing. The Quidditch season was starting in a week, and he was possibly the most excited person at Hogwarts. As Quidditch captain for Gryffindor, it was his job to seek out new prospects to replace those who had graduated the previous year. This year, he was looking for a new chaser and keeper. James was very excited, and had posted the tryout times in the common room the week before. He had managed to get everyone else almost as excited as he. But not quite.
Today was tryout day, and James had finished dressing in his Quidditch robes. He was now on the pitch, facing his new prospects with his hands on his hips.
"Alright, to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, you've got to know what it takes. You'll have to be prepared for playing in any weather conditions, and you'll have to make it to practices on time," James started his speech, stressing the last two words. He had been mulling over this for the past couple of weeks. He wanted to make a hard-core impression on the other students, so there would be no messing around later in the year for important games, when it mattered. However, his intent concentration on the students was broken as he was rudely interrupted by a shout.
"Hey, Potter! Wait!" Lily Evans dashed across the Quidditch pitch, robes on, broom in hand.
James looked exasperated as he watched the redhead bound towards him. As she drew closer, he asked, irritated, "What do you want?"
Not missing a beat, Lily replied, "Obviously, I'm here to try out for the Quidditch team."
"Yes, but why?!?" James asked, scrunching up his face.
Lily had a look on her face that clearly showed what she thought of James' intelligence level, "Obviously, I love Quidditch. Even you should know that, being the dumb ass that you are."
James looked a little dumbfounded. He turned a bit red as some of the students auditioning started to snicker, "Well I don't know you very well, so maybe I wouldn't know that simply.delightful fact."
"Well, me being here might've given you a hint!" Lily replied, a smirk on her face, arms crossed.
James' red tinge deepened as he looked away from Lily, "As I was saying."
His speech went on for a good twenty minutes before finally, he announced, "All right! Now, people trying out for keeper, please gather on my left. Those trying out for chaser, gather on my right!"
However excited or overwhelmed by power he was, James did not fail to notice Lily walk to his right side.
"We'll start with keepers!" James shouted, Lily's face in the corner of his eye, "Chasers! Please stay here!"
After much waiting for the chasers, and many drills for the keepers, James left his keepers at the side of the pitch, and headed over to the chasers, "All right, first, I want you all to fly through the obstacle course I've set up in the air. Then, we'll test you out on the keepers."
And so they did. James was surprised to see Lily excel at the highly- coveted chaser position. She was probably one of the best ones there. However, Crystal Towers was pretty damn good, too, and she didn't seem to hate James nearly as much as Lily did. It was going to be a tough decision.
"So what should I do?" James breathed, placing his hands on his knees. Tryouts had been over for an hour, and here he was, waiting for and answer from his three friends: Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and of course, Sirius, who were all staring back at James, eyebrows raised. For a few moments, there was silence, until Sirius replied slowly, "So you either pick the hot girl who is clearly the best at what she does, and who also happens to make your life, as you described, a living hell.OR! You pick the nice shy girl who, although good at what she does, does not hold a candle to girl number one.Am I right?"
James nodded, rubbing his chin, his brow furrowed as he thought, "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." He looked back at his friends for the verdict.
Remus laughed, "James, you need serious help."
James looked bewildered, and exclaimed, "Yes! That's why I came to you people!" Peter stared back and forth at each speaker.
Remus stopped laughing and replied, "No, I meant serious help, not us!"
James looked confused, "You mean Sirius?"
"No, I mean qualified help!"
"You people are as qualified to solve my problems as one gets!"
"No, I mean professional help!" Remus exclaimed, getting fed up with James' inability to understand the words that were coming out of his mouth.
Before James could reply, Sirius interrupted, "James! This isn't even a question!" He laughed, standing up.
James slowly replied, "Well, if I'm asking it, I think it does indeed qualify as a question. Who do I choose?"
Remus shook his head, "James, think about it.Who's the one who can get you that Quidditch Cup?"
Sirius smiled and he and Remus walked to the boys' dormitory with Peter following closely behind.
James sank back in his seat, realization dawning on him.
"Lily, I need to talk to you," James stated boldly. He was standing in front of the redhead, who was chatting it up in front of the fire with Evan, Patrick, Andrea and two other Gryffindor girls, Cordelia Adams and Melissa White.
Lily stared up at him questioningly. James almost got lost inside those bright green whirlpools. There was just something about them.
He shook himself out of it in time to hear Lily reply, "Sure."
They walked over to the corner of the room. Lily looked confused and suspicious, but said nothing. Reluctantly, James spoke, "I just thought you should be the first to know, that.if you still want to be, you are the new Gryffindor chaser."
Lily absolutely lit up, "Oh, I do! I want to be the new chaser!" She was indeed, so excited, that without thinking, she wrapped her arms around James and gave him a hug.
James didn't pull away. He felt comfortable, because Lily was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, which ruled out any possible way of slipping some sort of knife up her sleeve.
He probably could've stayed in that position all day, but he knew Evan was still in the common room, and it would've been too risky.
Either way, Lily pulled away, and for the first time ever, she gave him a genuine smile. All natural, 100% concentrate, no sarcasm or cockiness added.