When Quidditch tryouts came around, Lily, James, Sirius, Mariko, and a few other Gryffindor's showed up. Sirius and Mariko were trying out for Chasers, James was going for the Seeker position, and Lily wanted to be the Keeper.
"Ok, people." Elijah Chang said, calling all the players down to the ground. "You will be called out one by one and told what to do by myself, and the two managers. First up will be Sirius Black."
All the other players went into the locker rooms to wait. As Lily passed Sirius, she whispered a good luck to him, he instantly felt less nervous.
Finally it was Lily's turn. Elijah had brought back some of the teams best Chasers to test out the new keeper. Lily had a hard time, but after the first few sets, she finally got the hang of it and never let the Quaffle past her again.
"Good job, Evans. 69 out of 80. Your better than Amos Diggory is." Elijah said smiling to Lily, who couldn't help but return. Diggory was the Hufflepuff keeper; he was said to be the best keeper anyone had ever seen. "The list of team members will be placed on the common room bulletin board tomorrow after lunch."
Lily left to find Sirius, who was waiting for her on the steps in front of one of the castle doors.
"Good job, Lily. I saw you from here. Looked like you did a great job."
"Thanks, how did you do?" she asked.
"Not too bad, I only made 23 out of 40." He said grimly.
"Hey, you'll be on the team if I know Elijah."
They continued their conversation while waiting for the others to get done.
Mariko was sure she had bombed it and James was muttering to himself about the snitch being cursed.
"Don't worry guys, it'll be ok." Lily said trying to boost their spirits.
They all just grumbled and went to their dorms. Lily decided not to follow them; instead, she went down to the lake. After meandering around it, she plopped herself down under a willow tree close to the Forbidden Forest. She thought she was alone, but that thought was wrong. She hadn't noticed the black haired guy sitting near the edge of the forest.
"Hullo." He said, startling Lily.
"Whoa, you scared me." She said, trying to see who it was.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to." He said kindly, from the darkness of the forest.
"It's alright. But, who are you?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"I'm Lily Evans."
"You are very trusting, Miss Evans. Maybe too trusting."
Lily was starting to become frightened.
"Are you scared?" he asked.
"A little, but never mind that. Who are you?" she asked again.
"Well, I think it is safe to tell you. I am Tom Riddle, former Hogwarts student." He stepped out of the shadows of the forest and bowed low to Lily. "I am in search of something that is inside the school, but I am not allowed inside."
"Why not?" Lily asked.
"Various reasons, none that have or can be proved. But that is unimportant, what is important is that you are here." he scowled.
"Why is that so important?" Lily questioned, she was no longer scared of the strange man. Actually, she was intrigued by him. His aloof behavior, his genuine mannerism, and just something about him made her want to help him.
"You can get what I need."
"What do you need?" she asked.
"Somewhere inside that school, is something of great importance to me. It belonged to my mother's father and was to be passed down to me, but was stolen from my family before that could happen." he paused here before continuing, "It is a book. Written in it is my entire family tree, as well as other valuable items. I'm asking you to find this book for me. Will you do it?"
"Yes, I will try." Lily replied.
"You are a brave and intelligent girl, I know you will succeed. Now, Lily, I must leave, but I will not depart without helping you in some way. I am going to a place where I may be able to figure out more of the hiding place of this book. I will send you an owl if I find out anything new. Good bye, Miss Evans."
For some reason, Lily ran up to the man and hugged him, saying, "I will do everything in my power to help you."
The man was a bit startled by the girls actions, but he felt that she genuinely wanted to help him, "I must leave, Lily, but if you need anything, just owl me." He finished with a smile before walking back to the forest.
"That was odd." Lily thought as she walked back up to the school. When she got near the picture of the Fat Lady, she realized that she had no clue where to start looking. She felt that she shouldn't involve any teachers or students, after all, if he wasn't allowed IN the school, why would he be allowed on the grounds. She decided to wait until he had owled her with directions.
The next morning, all of the students who had tried out for the Quidditch team were nervous, all except Lily. She was acting as if she hadn't a care in the world. In fact, she was her normal, hyper self.
At lunch, the players were really beginning to get jumpy, so when Lily came up behind Sirius and covered his eyes saying, "Guess who?" she was met with a jump on his part.
"Geez, Lily lay off." he practically yelled.
"Sorry," she said sarcastically, "Didn't know you'd be as paranoid as Peter."
"HEY!" Peter yelled.
Lily barely looked at him and he slunk down in his chair as low as he could go.
"Well, if you guy's don't want my presence, I'll leave." She said getting up and walking to the other end of the Gryffindor table.
"Oy, Lily! Over here!" she heard a voice say.
"Hullo, Elijah." She said, smiling at the sight of his deep blue eyes. They were the kind that made girls melt, but Lily just found them pretty, like the Caribbean Sea.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, his eyes twinkling.
"Sirius yelled at me for covering up his eyes, so I left. I don't see why they're so jumpy."
"Ah, don't worry. They'll get over it. Anyways, I have the Quidditch roster right here." He said producing a sheet from his bag.
"Oooh! Can I see?" Lily asked excitedly.
"Hmmm. Hey, Dria!" he asked the Head Girl, "Should I show Lily the roster?"
"Oh, Elijah." She muttered turning back to her earlier conversation.
"Well, I'll take that as a yes." He said handing Lily the piece of parchment that read:
Gryffindor Quidditch Team Roster
Beaters: Justin Burke
Kasandra Phillips
Chasers: Sirius Black
Mariko Nagano
Elijah Chang (Captian)
Seeker: James Potter
Keeper: Lily Evans
"Hey, Elijah, can I take this? I'll post it on the board for ya." She said innocently.
"I'd say yes, but I have a feeling it wouldn't go straight on the board." He replied grinning.
"Drats!" Lily pouted, "You take out all the fun!"
Elijah took one look at Lily, then started cracking up. "Go ahead, have fun. Potter and his buddies could be brought down to earth sometimes."
He smiled as Lily ran back to her seat near the guys. "Gosh, too bad she wasn't older. She's an awesome girl. Someone better garb a hold on to her." He thought.
