A/N: A thousand apologies to all my readers for the extremely long wait! I won't waste anymore time making excuses for myself- here's the next one. Enjoy!
Jade
Ron was grouchy all through dinner, and once everyone had finished eating, Harry took the opportunity to pull him into the lounge. Ron seemed to know what was coming, he stared down at his feet.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, simply. Ron remained quiet for a moment, then he sighed and looked up at his best friend.
"It's just- Fred and George- they're constantly making me their joke lately. They're always saying how if I keep my attitude up I'll be working for Percy at the Ministry soon."
"Ron, do you think you're like Percy?" Harry asked, smiling slightly.
"No!" Ron replied defensively. "Believe me, everyday I pray that whatever happens I'll never end up like him!"
"Well then if you know that, what should it matter what Fred or George says?"
"And the fact that I'm a prefect." Ron continued, ignoring Harry's question. "They're always sticking that to me! They think Dumbledore was drugged when he decided to give me my badge- they think you should have gotten it." Ron finished awkwardly. Harry shook his head.
"They're wrong, Ron. I don't deserve anything more than you do. I really haven't done anything too special." Ron gave him a sarcastic look. "It's true. I just got lucky. Sometimes I feel like my skin is a living miracle. I even hate myself for it." Harry gritted his teeth. It was his turn to look down.
"Think what you want," Ron shrugged. "but personally I think it's our world that's lucky- lucky to have you." Harry lifted his gaze from the floor. He grinned at him.
"To have us." He corrected him. And as he said it he stared past him into the doorway. Ron turned around. Hermione was standing there, beaming at them. She slowly walked to where they were standing. "The three of us." Hermione looked at Ron, then.
"Everyone knows how much you've done, Ron, including Fred and George, but you know them, they have odd ways of expressing their gratitude." She assured him, and Harry was positive he saw his face light up with a bit more confidence.
"I think they have odd ways of expressing everything, Hermione." Harry pointed out. And they all laughed. That's when Harry remembered he was supposed to meet the twins at seven thirty. "Hey Hermione do you know what time it is?"
"I think the clock said seven twenty five when I glanced at it-"
"Come on, we have to get upstairs! I promised the twins I'd meet them there, now." Ron and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks.
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know, but let's go find out." He said.
Harry entered his and Ron's bedroom to find the twins sitting on his bed, staring straight at him. Hermione and Ron followed in behind him.
"So what's this about?" Harry asked, getting right to the point. Fred and George smirked at him.
"When was the last time you took your Firebolt out for a ride, Harry?" George questioned him. Harry pondered this for a moment. It felt like ages since he had been on any broom. Dumbledore had sent him his Firebolt by owl post at the beginning of the summer, but with Sirius's death weighing heavily on his spirit he had never been in the mood to fly.
"It'll almost be a year now." He answered, regretfully.
"Mmmmhmmm. And, when were you planning on riding it next?" Fred asked, curiously.
"I- I don't know- when I get back to school I guess-"
"How about now?" George suggested. Harry peered at them suspiciously.
"Where are you going with this exactly?" He asked.
"We've been giving it some thought-" Fred begun.
"And we think it would make a fun little experiment." George concluded.
"What would?" Harry, Ron and Hermione said in unison.
"A game of Quidditch-" George explained.
"During our next memory." Fred finished, grinning madly. The trio stared at them in utter disbelief.
"And I thought you two couldn't get any more bloody mental." Ron confessed.
"Well it makes sense. The next memory is obviously going to be Harry's dad's Quidditch match, so we though maybe we could help them out a bit." George said.
"You mean play with my dad's team?" Harry asked.
"You got it." Fred said.
"But what if the next memory isn't that?" Hermione asked. "We'll have brought our brooms there for nothing, and we'll have to lug them around everywhere."
"So we'll take the chance." George said, indifferently. "After all, when's the next time Harry will be able to play Quidditch against his dad?" He winked at Harry.
"It would be kind of great!" Harry agreed.
"George and I will defend the beaters," Fred said. "Ron you'll position yourself near the keeper and help him out, and Harry you'll try to aid your dad out as best as you can." Harry and Ron nodded.
"Umm excuse me, and what does that leave me with?" Hermione demanded, her hands on her hips. They turned around to face her.
"Oh yeah-" George remembered, as if he had just seen her. "Hermione you'll ride with Ron." Hermione turned red.
"I don't want to ride with Ron!" She objected. Ron glared at her.
"And why not!" He snapped.
"Forget it, it doesn't matter!"
"No it doesn't." George agreed.
"Harry, shall we?" Fred asked. Harry grinned.
"We shall indeed."
"On the count of three then- Ron get ready(he was still arguing with Hermione)." Fred warned.
"1, 2, 3-" George counted, and together the four of them shouted:
"ACCIO BROOM!" Seconds later, Harry's Firebolt came crashing into the room, followed by Ron's broom, then Fred and George's. They each took hold of theirs, and then Harry walked over to the night table beside his bed and grabbed the book. Hermione joined them as they formed a tight circle in the center of the room.
"Ready to win your dad a date with his wonder woman, mate?" George asked Harry.
"Ready to try!" Harry replied, a bit nervous now. He opened the book and turned to the fourth page.
The Quidditch stadium was packed with students ready to support their team, even in the threatening, pouring rain.
"Great weather for playing, don't you think?" Hermione called out through the pandemonium. Meanwhile, Harry had just spotted Sirius standing at the front of the stand with his mother.
"There's Sirius and my mom, let's go see them." Harry said, and he walked over to them, the others close behind him.
"Feeling confident, Evans?" Sirius asked Lily.
"More confident than you I'm sure." Lily answered, smugly. Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail, and she was gripping her umbrella tightly.
"I'm not so sure about that. James in one hell of a flyer! How does it feel knowing you may be facing a date with Mr. Potter?" He questioned her, holding up an imaginary microphone to her mouth, as if he were a reporter. Lily scowled at him.
"If I vomited all over you would that be a satisfactory answer?" Sirius chuckled.
"I was right-" He said. Lily looked at him. "You two ARE perfect for each other." She punched his shoulder. "James isn't a bad guy you know." He said, seriously. "Maybe you should give him a chance to show you what he's really like." Lily didn't reply, she stared straight ahead at the opposite end of the stadium.
"Harry! The game's about to start! We've got to position ourselves!" Ron said. Harry disengaged himself from his mother and Sirius's conversation. He glanced at Fred and George. They were getting ready to mount their brooms.
"Let's go." He said. He, Ron and Hermione stationed themselves beside the twins.
"You three ready?" Fred asked them. They nodded. "Alright then. Here's the plan. We're going to fly to the hoops and stay there until the coach blows the whistle. Then we take our positions. Got it?"
"Got it." They said. They mounted their brooms. Hermione got behind Ron, appearing very apprehensive. Harry couldn't believe he was going to play Quidditch again. And what was more-he was actually going to watch his father fly. It all felt like a dream. The next thing he knew they were kicking off from the ground and soaring to the hoops. There was a sudden explosion of noise in the stadium. The players were coming out. Harry attempted to get a look at his father's face, but all he could catch was his figure, stiffly walking in rank to the center of the stadium. Gryffindor were playing Hufflepuff. The captains shook hands. The coach blew the whistle. They were off.
Harry flew to his dad immediately. James's jet black hair was flying everywhere in the wind, and cold rain was hitting his face and splashing on his glasses, making it hard for him to see. Nevertheless his face was determined. Harry was reminded of the match he had had in his third year in the same conditions. Hermione had put a spell on his glasses to make them repel water, then, but he couldn't remember it. He began looking around for a sight of the snitch. James was doing the same.
Ron was situated by the goal post. Hermione was holding on to his waist. As the quaffle came shooting his way, he turned, hit it with the back of his broom, and sent it flying to the opposite end of the stadium. Harry caught his eye and gave him the thumbs up sign. The chasers were so befuddled by how this had happened that Harry had to laugh at their confused faces. Meanwhile, Fred and George kept blocking the other team's beaters from getting too close to the bludger.
An hour passed by, Gryffindor were winning by a mile, but neither James or Harry had yet sighted the snitch.
"Oi Harry!" George called out to him. "Any luck?"
"Nothing!" Harry hollored back at him.
"Well get CRACKING!" Fred yelled. "Another minute out here and my ass cheeks are going to be icicles!"
Then it happened. Harry saw his father dive down after what had to have been the snitch. He tailed him. The Hufflepuff seeker had seen James. He soared down at equal level to him, and after a moment of watching them race head to head, Harry decided to make his father's job a little easier. He flew ahead right beside the Hufflepuff seeker, and purposely bashed himself right into him. The Hufflepuff player was stunned. Harry knocked into him again, and that time the mix of wind and pressure threw him off course. James looked back in shock. The Gryffindor fans were screaming. He speeded up, then pulled his hand out and reached for the snitch. It was over in a minute. James caught the ball, and the stadium roared in triumph. James beamed, and still holding the snitch, he flew up to where Lily was standing with Sirius. Harry was right beside him. Lily stared at James in a complete loss for words. He took her hand, and placed the golden snitch in it. It burst into heatless flame, and transformed into a beautiful lily.
"It's better than a snake, right?" He said, smirking, and then he took off to go join his team in celebrating. Sirius's face was lit up with an insane grin. Lily looked at the flower and smiled in spite of herself.
"Harry! We did it! We won!" Ron shouted as he pulled up beside his best friend.
"You were amazing Harry!" Hermione was glowing.
"His father's absolutely wicked!" George said, just arriving.
"Brilliant!" Fred agreed. "You fly so much like him Harry!" Harry was bursting with pride. A few moments later, James flew up to see Sirius. Lily was still with him. She was snorting at the group of girls who were drooling over James.
"Well I guess this means you owe SOMEONE a date, Evans." Sirius reminded her, evilly. Lily couldn't even look James in the face. The joke was on her and she was so humiliated. Harry glanced at his father. He was studying Lily's face, and he appeared sympathetic. What he said next seemed to have cost him a great deal.
"So where do you want to have your dinner?" Sirius was rambling. "I could set up a romantic spot near the gardens-of course I would need Remus's help but-OH THIS IS WONDERFUL!"
"Forget it, Sirius." James said, quietly.
"You'll be right under the moonlight! Then you could kiss Evans by the fountain, and Evans you could throw him in. I'm sure that would make such a funny picture- WHAT?" He had just realized what James had said.
"I said forget it. Let her date whoever she wants." He said. Lily was looking at him like he had just hit his head hard.
"What?" She said. He turned to her.
"I don't want you to go out with me because I won a quidditch game, and you lost a stupid bet. I want you to REALLY like me, but obviously that's never going to happen, so just forget it."
"James are you serious, mate?" Sirius looked bewildered.
"Yup."
"Is this a cry for pity, Potter?" Lily demanded.
"No. Believe me the last thing I need is your pity." James told her, honestly.
"You're really going to forget about this?" Lily asked, disbelievingly.
"Lily, consider it my greatest pleasure." James said, bowing to her. Then he turned around and walked away from them.
"Oh my God he called me Lily." Lily said, shocked.
"Oh my God he called you Lily." Sirius repeated. "All my planning-WASTED!" He bellowed, as he too walked away and left Lily standing alone in the rain.
"Arghh!" Frustrated, Lily threw the lily from her hand, and it fell elegantly to the ground.
"It is so obvious she likes him deep down, she just doesn't want to admit it." Ron said.
"Yeah." Fred piped up. "It's kinda like you two." He nodded at him and Hermione. Hermione turned scarlet. Ron flushed.
"Shut up." He said.
Then suddenly the picture began to fade to black, and Harry knew the memory was ending. He and his friends took hold of one another, as they once again fell through darkness and back into Harry and Ron's room at Grimmauld Place.
"I can't believe we did all that for nothing." Harry said. "My dad ended up refusing the date."
"It wasn't all for nothing." Ron disagreed.
"Yeah it was fun." George grinned. Fred yawned.
"Loads of fun." He seconded. "Now if you'll excuse us- bedtime calls."
"Yes I'm tired too, Harry." Hermione said. "I'll see you two in the morning." And with a last smile at him and Ron, she left the room.
"Do Fred and George think I like her?" Ron asked Harry when she had left. Harry snorted.
"Ron, everyone thinks you like her." Ron threw a pillow at him.
"Throw as many things at me as you want!" Harry laughed. "I've wanted to tell you that for so long!"
