Memories

Chapter 2: The Quidditch Match

DISCLAIMER: I do not own J.K. Rowling's work.

A/N: This chapter is revised. Please review! Thank you!

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The next morning, the Gryffindor boys trudged down the stairs, yawning and eager to get to their breakfast. Sirius in particular was very keen to get down to one of his favorite times of day (the two others being lunch and dinner).

While they ate, they discussed a various amount of topics: famous Quidditch players, neat Quidditch moves, their favorite Quidditch teams, the Gryffindor-versus-Slytherin Quidditch game that day, and a number of related topics. They were talking excitedly about the awesome Quidditch maneuver that a famous player had pulled off during a game when the Gryffindor girls arrived at the table.

"So, James, all prepped up for the game this afternoon?" asked Lyssa. Lyssa was a natural flyer, and although she disliked playing Quidditch, she loved watching the sport.

"Oh, yeah. We should win if we're on top of our game," James replied. Despite his confident words, he felt as if eating breakfast was too much to handle for his churning stomach. He thought of all the complicated maneuvers that had been talked about during the last practice. Was the Careening Curl the one with the twirling away from the ground or was that –

The sound of Lily's voice broke James out of his thoughts.

" – you alright, James?" Lily asked cautiously. It was obvious that she had been calling his name for a while.

"Yeah, Lily, I'm fine," James replied. After all, by the time the game started, he knew he would be. Before every game his stomach would feel like a hundred butterflies were released. But the minute he was up in the air all doubts fled from his mind. And he was always safe because of the –

"Hey, James, you and Sirius better go get changed in the locker rooms," Remus exclaimed, unwittingly interrupting James' thoughts, glancing at his watch. "You only have about twenty minutes until the game starts!"

James looked at his watch, too, and dashed off as rather colorful language spilled out of his mouth, Sirius right behind him.

They ran as fast as they could toward the Quidditch pitch. Noise increased in volume approximately tenfold, as people milled around excitedly in the stands.

Sirius and James took a sharp left away from the stands which led to the locker rooms. The rest of the team was already there: Josh Connelly (Beater), Luke Parker (Keeper and Captain), Tim Brunsky (Chaser), John Toller (Chaser), and Natalie Stenavich (Seeker). They were all changed into their scarlet Quidditch robes already. Luke chastised them a bit for being late, but he had a soft spot for two of the best Quidditch players in a long time. James and Sirius ran around haphazardly, dragging on their robes and socks simultaneously. Finally, they were ready, and the match was due to start in five minutes

Right before the match started though, two girls rushed into the locker rooms. It was Lily and Lyssa. They were grinning and holding up two scarves. James and Sirius smiled at their tradition and took the red-and-gold Gryffindor scarves from the girls as "good-luck tokens". Sirius wrapped his dramatically around his neck, flinging one side over his shoulder. James, on the other hand, wound the fluttering scarf around his upper arm. The girls beamed at their two favorite boys and then dashed back to their seats high up in the stands.

As the announcer called out the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a huge cheer erupted, and the red-and-gold team spilled out onto the field. Parker and the Slytherin captain shook hands firmly, glaring at the other all the while. Everyone mounted their brooms, and there was a sudden hush of silence. Madam Donner brought out the balls and blew a sharp whistle that released the balls. The Quidditch game had begun.

Immediately, three red blurs rose up fast into the air. The Chasers had seized the Quaffle and began winding their way around the field. James ducked, as a Bludger flew his way by the Slytherin Beater. He drop-passed the Quaffle to Brunsky and then wove his way around to Toller's other side to receive the pass that they had set up. Sure enough, the red ball flew to James and he threw it as hard as he could toward the Slytherin goal. The Quaffle sailed past the middle golden hoop, despite the Keeper's attempts to stop it. Cheers rang in the stands, as a wave of red and gold stood as one to express delight on the first goal of the game.

"And Potter makes the first spectacular goal in the game!" the announcer shouted.

James grinned, and slapped palms with Toller as they passed.

The game was a close and exciting one, with Slytherin in the slight lead, 90-80. Soon, the game became dirtier and dirtier as Slytherin did their best to keep their slim lead. However, the Gryffindors were a smoothly operating team, and they got a few more goals in. The score was now 130-90, in Gryffindor favor. The Slytherins desperately used any measures to gain some ground, but Parker wasn't letting any more goals in.

Suddenly, shouts went up in the stands, and all the players turned to the two Seekers. Natalie and the Slytherin Seeker were racing downward toward the elusive Golden Snitch.

James could see that Natalie was slowly losing ground, and the Slytherin Seeker already had a triumphant look on his face. Suddenly, James tore off through the air, coming in from on opposite angle than the two Seekers. He dove as they dove, and motioned for Natalie to get out of the way. Natalie careened over to the right, and now James looked like he was going to crash into the Slytherin Seeker. The two boys locked gazes, and James could see something akin to fright in the other player's eyes. James smiled grimly and increased his speed in answer.

The three players were all coming closer to the Golden Snitch. It was clear, however, that the Slytherin Seeker would either collide into James or give up. Natalie had a clear view of the Snitch, meanwhile, since James was providing a barrier to the Slytherin Seeker.

All of a sudden, James pulled up out of his sharp dive. The Slytherin, however, was not so lucky, because Sirius had managed to hit him with a Bludger, and crashed into the ground. Natalie had her arm pulled up victoriously, with the Golden Snitch fluttering helplessly in her fist. The crowd went wild, cheering and screaming. Swarms of people ran onto the field, congratulating the Gryffindors with the first win of the season.

James, however, was scanning the throngs of people, looking for his friends. Seeing Lily, he grinned widely and thrust his fist in the air, the ends of the Gryffindor scarf fluttering in the breeze. Lily smiled back, before her expression turned into horror.

James frowned in confusion, before a hard object knocked into the back of his head. He crumpled to the ground, his hearing strangely blocked and his vision swimming. The last thing he saw were concerned pools of emerald green.

scene change

When James awoke, he felt his head pound from the bright lights. He soothed his burning retinas by closing his eyes immediately. From his squinted eyes, he saw two dancing spots of silver, before the bright light was muted somewhat. Opening his eyes fully, he saw that the "dancing spots" were the half-moon spectacles of Professor Dumbledore. James struggled to sit up, but his back was too sore, so he gave up on the attempt.

"Hello, James. I see you have woken up at last," said Dumbledore, sky-blue eyes twinkling laughingly. Then his merry voice took on a more serious tone of voice as he continued. "There are a few things I would like to discuss with you, James. Would you mind if we talked a bit?"

"Not at all, Professor," James replied, wondering what on earth he could have done while he was unconscious.

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A/N: Sorry for a slightly short chapter! I wanted to separate the talk from the match, so I split them up. Please review! Thank you!

tenniStar514