Chapter 21
James thought about the little incident for a long time. He thought about it during free periods in the common room, during dinners, during classes, and even during Quidditch practices. Lily Evans. Just thinking of the name made something in his stomach turn over. And the feeling was nothing like doing a flip on his broom in the Quidditch field.
"POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING THE QUAFFLE!"
Oh, bugger, James thought before he sped off towards the big red ball on his Comet One-Eighty. Sirius glared at him menacingly.
James's hands quickly closed around the Quaffle and he did a slight spiral dive to stay in balance. He felt an exquisite rush through his system from the wind, the speed, and the altitude, and Lily Evans was pushed out of his mind in his ariel bliss.
"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Sirius bellowed.
"Sheesh. You'd think there was only one captain here..." James grumbled as he shot towards one of the hoops at the end of the field.
"Tell me about it," Frank Longbottom grunted when they crossed paths as Frank chased after a rogue bludger.
James easily flipped the Quaffle through the hoop underhand and made a sharp U-turn to face the field. The scene that beheld his eyes was a bit chaotic. Sirius and Frank seemed to be smashing bludgers in any random direction they please, and then chasing after them and doing it all over again. Kristy Ricketts, another chaser, was chucking a spare Quaffle at Michael Lowery, who was trying very hard to protect the hoops on the other side of the field. Their seeker, Mark Thomas, looked to be having a chat with the other chaser, Jilly Arrington. Actually, James decided, the scene was positively embarassing and he wondered how Sirius could possibly yell at him with the whole team doing what it was.
James Potter quickly went into action. He pulled out his wand from his robe and cleared his throat before he quietly said, "Sonorus." He didn't fancy yelling much anyway.
"Okay! Listen up, everyone!" he called out, making his teammates turn around and face him, frozen in action. A Bludger narrowly missed hitting Frank on the head as it sped by.
"THIS," he waved his arm across the field, "needs to stop. THIS is embarassing. How are we supposed to win if we can't be serious during practice?!"
"I'm being Sirius!" called Sirius from atop his broomstick, making several people laugh.
"No! You're not! You're being juvenile!" James shot back angrily. "Everyone please come here. NOW."
Sirius flew up beside him and gave him an apologetic face. "Sorry, Prongs," he whispered. James didn't answer; he only stared at the semi-circles of faces in front of him.
"Do you care about this?" he asked them loudly. "Do you want to win? Do you want to beat Slytherin?" He quickly continued without giving them a chance to respond. Kristy Ricketts whispered something into Jilly Arrington's ear, making James fume. He quickly sent her off on three laps around the field.
He crossed his arms. Sirius did the same beside him.
"We're going make some changes around here. It's not going to be like last year. Last year we were bloody lucky. This year Slytherin's looking good, so's Ravenclaw. We probably don't have to worry about Hufflepuff, but you never know!" He watched as his teammates grimaced in pain and covered their ears. Sirius tapped him on the shoulder and then pointed to his neck.
"Oh! Sorry!"
Jilly put her arms over her head as James performed the reverse spell.
"Much better," Frank quipped.
"Er, yeah..." James said. "Let's get on with it then."
The rest of the practice ran quite smoothly. Chasers brushed up on their passing, catching and shooting skills while Michael Lowery played in goal. Sirius and Frank hit a Bludger orderly back and forth and their seeker hovered somewhere up above. James nodded and smiled. Now THIS was organization.
And then Lily Evans hit him in the head like a bludger. No, not her, herself. But her name, and her pretty face, and her glittering eyes, and her little smile she gets when she performs a spell correctly. And well, everything about her. James fumbled with the quaffle. Drat. He looked up to see if anyone saw. Kristy frowned at him and he quickly threw the ball at her face. It was going to be a long practice.
-
"I've decided that I very much dislike homework," Lily stated loudly to Alice as they sat at a table in the Common Room writing a Charms essay. Alice snorted.
"I mean, its such a time waster. Two feet on how to create a spell... with diagrams? That's a waste of parchment, too. At least he could've picked a harder topic."
"Harder topic? Okay, genius, I happen to find this difficult," Alice said, lifting her quill up off the parchment. "I still have about a foot to go and I've no clue what to write about. Just because YOU happen to be good at Charms-"
"Yeah, well, just because YOU happen to be good at potions. You have no right to complain." Lily shut her Charms book and began blowing on her completed essay.
"Tuh! This isn't even Charms!" declared Alice.
"Yes it is. It's a branch of Charms. Spell making. It's how you design the spells. The architecture of a spell. It's essential. AND I think it's fascinating," Lily stated matter-of-factly, making Alice narrow her eyes before she delved back into her book.
Lily yawned and then rolled up her essay and put it carefully into her bad. She mentally went over her list of homework and discovered that she had finished it all. She looked around the Common Room to see where Wilona was, but couldn't spot the girl anywhere.
"Where's Wilona?" she asked Alice.
Alice looked up and frowned. "I don't know... Lily..." She put her quill down and began apprehensively. "She's been different lately. Have you noticed?"
"Actually I have," Lily started. She leaned her head against the back of the chair and brought her knees up to her chest. "I don't know what it is. I didn't want to say anything... But maybe it's nothing.."
"Yeah. Maybe." Alice picked up her quill and began to chew thoughtfully on the end of it as she looked out the window. It was getting darker and she could barely see the people in the air at Quidditch practice anymore. She scanned the area of the field that she could see and spotted Frank hitting a Bludger to Sirius Black. Seeing him made her smile, and she turned back to her Charms essay with a slight blush on her cheeks.
Lily noticed the happy little look on Alice's face and couldn't help but smile herself. She looked out the window and saw the Gryffindor players were at Quidditch practice. Ah, yes. There was Frank Longbottom, the friend stealer. Sirius Black. No comment. Kristy Ricketts. Nice girl. Jilly Arrington. Good at Charms. James Potter. Her mind went blank.
What an odd incident that was last week during dinner... He had come over and sat next to her... And then he had, well, zoned out, Sirius had said. She found the whole thing a bit confusing. And he had called her Lily! That had really taken her by surprise. She was so accustomed to the usual "Evans." Now that she thought about it, James had begun acting differently lately. She wasn't sure what to make of it. He was quieter, especially in the Common Room, but then sometimes he was just as loud as usual. Just the other day she had stepped around a corner and spotted he and his friends in the corner taunting Severus Snape. She had broken it up of course (not that she entirely wanted to)... but the whole matter altogether was just too confounding.
She sighed.
"What?" Alice said immediately, looking up from her paper.
"Nothing!" Lily said a little too quickly. It was, after all, nothing important. Nope, James Potter was a prat. Plain and simple.
"Hah. Right. What is it, Lily?"
Lily pressed her lips together and shook her head.
"I bet I can guess what it is."
Lily raised her eyebrows dubiously and waited.
"James Potter."
"God, you're good! I hate you!" Lily burst out. She could never get away with anything around Alice. The girl could see through everything.
"Oh, come on. It was so obvious..." Alice began. "Plus. I AM good," she said, nodding and trying not to smile. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Well. What about him, then? Oh by the way, I saw that little incident last week at dinner. I'm surprised you haven't filled me in," Alice said smoothly. God, she sees everything, Lily thought. "I see everything you know," she added.
"Oh, believe me, I know," Lily answered bitterly.
"Answer the question, Lily."
"Er. I don't know what about him. He's just.. him, you know." She shrugged and closed her mouth.
Alice raised her eyebrows at Lily. "I can tell we won't be getting anywhere in this conversation. So I think it is in my best interest to stop talking and go back to my homework now."
"You do that," Lily said, nodding her head approvingly. She was relieved; she hadn't wanted to undergo any intense grilling by Alice. She wouldn't have had the answers anyway. Not that it mattered. It was just James Potter.
James thought about the little incident for a long time. He thought about it during free periods in the common room, during dinners, during classes, and even during Quidditch practices. Lily Evans. Just thinking of the name made something in his stomach turn over. And the feeling was nothing like doing a flip on his broom in the Quidditch field.
"POTTER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE GETTING THE QUAFFLE!"
Oh, bugger, James thought before he sped off towards the big red ball on his Comet One-Eighty. Sirius glared at him menacingly.
James's hands quickly closed around the Quaffle and he did a slight spiral dive to stay in balance. He felt an exquisite rush through his system from the wind, the speed, and the altitude, and Lily Evans was pushed out of his mind in his ariel bliss.
"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Sirius bellowed.
"Sheesh. You'd think there was only one captain here..." James grumbled as he shot towards one of the hoops at the end of the field.
"Tell me about it," Frank Longbottom grunted when they crossed paths as Frank chased after a rogue bludger.
James easily flipped the Quaffle through the hoop underhand and made a sharp U-turn to face the field. The scene that beheld his eyes was a bit chaotic. Sirius and Frank seemed to be smashing bludgers in any random direction they please, and then chasing after them and doing it all over again. Kristy Ricketts, another chaser, was chucking a spare Quaffle at Michael Lowery, who was trying very hard to protect the hoops on the other side of the field. Their seeker, Mark Thomas, looked to be having a chat with the other chaser, Jilly Arrington. Actually, James decided, the scene was positively embarassing and he wondered how Sirius could possibly yell at him with the whole team doing what it was.
James Potter quickly went into action. He pulled out his wand from his robe and cleared his throat before he quietly said, "Sonorus." He didn't fancy yelling much anyway.
"Okay! Listen up, everyone!" he called out, making his teammates turn around and face him, frozen in action. A Bludger narrowly missed hitting Frank on the head as it sped by.
"THIS," he waved his arm across the field, "needs to stop. THIS is embarassing. How are we supposed to win if we can't be serious during practice?!"
"I'm being Sirius!" called Sirius from atop his broomstick, making several people laugh.
"No! You're not! You're being juvenile!" James shot back angrily. "Everyone please come here. NOW."
Sirius flew up beside him and gave him an apologetic face. "Sorry, Prongs," he whispered. James didn't answer; he only stared at the semi-circles of faces in front of him.
"Do you care about this?" he asked them loudly. "Do you want to win? Do you want to beat Slytherin?" He quickly continued without giving them a chance to respond. Kristy Ricketts whispered something into Jilly Arrington's ear, making James fume. He quickly sent her off on three laps around the field.
He crossed his arms. Sirius did the same beside him.
"We're going make some changes around here. It's not going to be like last year. Last year we were bloody lucky. This year Slytherin's looking good, so's Ravenclaw. We probably don't have to worry about Hufflepuff, but you never know!" He watched as his teammates grimaced in pain and covered their ears. Sirius tapped him on the shoulder and then pointed to his neck.
"Oh! Sorry!"
Jilly put her arms over her head as James performed the reverse spell.
"Much better," Frank quipped.
"Er, yeah..." James said. "Let's get on with it then."
The rest of the practice ran quite smoothly. Chasers brushed up on their passing, catching and shooting skills while Michael Lowery played in goal. Sirius and Frank hit a Bludger orderly back and forth and their seeker hovered somewhere up above. James nodded and smiled. Now THIS was organization.
And then Lily Evans hit him in the head like a bludger. No, not her, herself. But her name, and her pretty face, and her glittering eyes, and her little smile she gets when she performs a spell correctly. And well, everything about her. James fumbled with the quaffle. Drat. He looked up to see if anyone saw. Kristy frowned at him and he quickly threw the ball at her face. It was going to be a long practice.
-
"I've decided that I very much dislike homework," Lily stated loudly to Alice as they sat at a table in the Common Room writing a Charms essay. Alice snorted.
"I mean, its such a time waster. Two feet on how to create a spell... with diagrams? That's a waste of parchment, too. At least he could've picked a harder topic."
"Harder topic? Okay, genius, I happen to find this difficult," Alice said, lifting her quill up off the parchment. "I still have about a foot to go and I've no clue what to write about. Just because YOU happen to be good at Charms-"
"Yeah, well, just because YOU happen to be good at potions. You have no right to complain." Lily shut her Charms book and began blowing on her completed essay.
"Tuh! This isn't even Charms!" declared Alice.
"Yes it is. It's a branch of Charms. Spell making. It's how you design the spells. The architecture of a spell. It's essential. AND I think it's fascinating," Lily stated matter-of-factly, making Alice narrow her eyes before she delved back into her book.
Lily yawned and then rolled up her essay and put it carefully into her bad. She mentally went over her list of homework and discovered that she had finished it all. She looked around the Common Room to see where Wilona was, but couldn't spot the girl anywhere.
"Where's Wilona?" she asked Alice.
Alice looked up and frowned. "I don't know... Lily..." She put her quill down and began apprehensively. "She's been different lately. Have you noticed?"
"Actually I have," Lily started. She leaned her head against the back of the chair and brought her knees up to her chest. "I don't know what it is. I didn't want to say anything... But maybe it's nothing.."
"Yeah. Maybe." Alice picked up her quill and began to chew thoughtfully on the end of it as she looked out the window. It was getting darker and she could barely see the people in the air at Quidditch practice anymore. She scanned the area of the field that she could see and spotted Frank hitting a Bludger to Sirius Black. Seeing him made her smile, and she turned back to her Charms essay with a slight blush on her cheeks.
Lily noticed the happy little look on Alice's face and couldn't help but smile herself. She looked out the window and saw the Gryffindor players were at Quidditch practice. Ah, yes. There was Frank Longbottom, the friend stealer. Sirius Black. No comment. Kristy Ricketts. Nice girl. Jilly Arrington. Good at Charms. James Potter. Her mind went blank.
What an odd incident that was last week during dinner... He had come over and sat next to her... And then he had, well, zoned out, Sirius had said. She found the whole thing a bit confusing. And he had called her Lily! That had really taken her by surprise. She was so accustomed to the usual "Evans." Now that she thought about it, James had begun acting differently lately. She wasn't sure what to make of it. He was quieter, especially in the Common Room, but then sometimes he was just as loud as usual. Just the other day she had stepped around a corner and spotted he and his friends in the corner taunting Severus Snape. She had broken it up of course (not that she entirely wanted to)... but the whole matter altogether was just too confounding.
She sighed.
"What?" Alice said immediately, looking up from her paper.
"Nothing!" Lily said a little too quickly. It was, after all, nothing important. Nope, James Potter was a prat. Plain and simple.
"Hah. Right. What is it, Lily?"
Lily pressed her lips together and shook her head.
"I bet I can guess what it is."
Lily raised her eyebrows dubiously and waited.
"James Potter."
"God, you're good! I hate you!" Lily burst out. She could never get away with anything around Alice. The girl could see through everything.
"Oh, come on. It was so obvious..." Alice began. "Plus. I AM good," she said, nodding and trying not to smile. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Well. What about him, then? Oh by the way, I saw that little incident last week at dinner. I'm surprised you haven't filled me in," Alice said smoothly. God, she sees everything, Lily thought. "I see everything you know," she added.
"Oh, believe me, I know," Lily answered bitterly.
"Answer the question, Lily."
"Er. I don't know what about him. He's just.. him, you know." She shrugged and closed her mouth.
Alice raised her eyebrows at Lily. "I can tell we won't be getting anywhere in this conversation. So I think it is in my best interest to stop talking and go back to my homework now."
"You do that," Lily said, nodding her head approvingly. She was relieved; she hadn't wanted to undergo any intense grilling by Alice. She wouldn't have had the answers anyway. Not that it mattered. It was just James Potter.