X – A Certain Salutation
Hogwarts Hearsay
Issue 2, Volume 1
Friday 28th February
If any of our dear readers had any doubts that Hogwarts' most famous couple, Amos Diggory and Lily Evans have split, reporter for Hogwarts Hearsay, Rita Skeeter is of the opinion that your speculation may have ample grounds.
Mr Diggory has revealed that the Head Girl has recently abandoned all self worth and dignity she may have previously owned by resorting to beg her former boyfriend to take her back, even offering to deliberately sabotage tomorrow's match against Ravenclaw so as to secure Hufflepuff's position in the Quidditch finals. As any Hogwarts Quidditch fan would know, for Hufflepuff to be back in the running for this year's cup, Ravenclaw must beat the house that Hufflepuff lost to, Gryffindor. Does this not mean that James Potter, captain of the Gryffindor team and Mr Diggory's long time rival, might do well to lead his team to victory and secure Mr Diggory's failure?
It is the opinion of the majority of Hogwarts that Mr Potter's ardour for Miss Evans is critically misplaced if the object of his affections is willing to dash all his hard work on behalf of the team, only to spite him by returning to the arms of Mr Diggory.
The words in front of Lily vanished as she tore the piece of parchment off the wall where someone had stuck it to the stones. Ever since the article had come out the day before, the Head Girl had been furiously ripping copies of Hogwarts Hearsay off the walls of the castle, wishing she could rip out something else, preferably Skeeter's hair, eyes, toenails or vital organs.
On the way down to breakfast on that Saturday morning, she and Verity succeeded in collecting a grand total of twenty-seven articles, each one bringing her mood further down a few notches. It wasn't really the fact the Rita Skeeter was writing rubbish about her, because anyone with even half a brain cell would know that there was about as much chance of Lily asking Diggory to take her back as there was of McGonagall beginning a tap dance on the high table. It was more the fact that Lily was letting that cow get to her. It wasn't a nice feeling.
Lily had a certain talent for entrances, and that morning's was no exception. It could definitely be said that she stormed in, and the weather did a lot to help this description. There was, coincidentally, a late winter storm raging against the castle outside. When Lily and Verity opened the doors to the Great Hall, every head in the room turned to see them with crumpled parchment in their hands, and with Lily's expression murderous enough for the both of them.
There was silence, filled only by the noise of the thunderstorm outside, as if it were embarrassed at the lack of the earlier conversation in the hall and was desperately trying to make small talk, like an uncomfortable guest. Students sat in rapt attention as the Head Girl and her best friend made their imperial way across the hall to the Gryffindor table and sat in the only spaces on the Gryffindor table, ones that James had made sure stayed available. He was watching Lily very carefully.
"Morning, Lilo," Sirius tried, always one to be liberal with the safety of his life. There was a brief silence.
"Good morning, Sirius," Lily replied, perfectly politely. Remus began to pour pumpkin juice over his toast he was so shocked.
"Are you all right, Lily?" he asked cautiously.
"Hm?" replied Lily, "Oh, yes, fine, you?"
"Never been better," said Remus, unnerved.
As Lily reached for an orange from the fruit bowl in front of her, James picked up one of the crumpled articles that she had left on the table.
"Do you think if we all start actually believing what Skeeter says, she'll be fuelled with the unstoppable thrill of power and ultimately explode?" he asked, conversationally.
Lily's head turned slowly to face the boy beside her, at which point she blinked, twice.
The hall held its breath. This was it, they were going to witness the murder of James Potter by way of choking on the orange in the Head Girl's hand.
But then Lily did something no one, not even she, had expected.
She laughed.
It was a laugh that showed Lily didn't give a toss that the entire hall was staring at her. It was a laugh that had its roots in the stomach, its leaves in the lungs, and its pretty flowers in the voice. It was a laugh that said defiantly, 'Oi, what's your problem? Ain't you never seen anyone laughing before?'
James grinned as whispers began to break out over the four house tables. This was surreal indeed. The only thing more odd than Lily Evans laughing at James Potter's jokes was if Hagrid suddenly started talking in a German accent.
"Come on," James said, taking her by the arm. "Gryffindor! Changing rooms now!" he hollered, and the players hurriedly began to say goodbye to their friends or scoop the last spoonfuls of porridge into their mouths.
Outside, the storm had lessened off a little with the realisation that all may be well again. The thunder clouds were still hanging overhead, but the rain had dribbled off into a drizzle. Lily was still giggling to herself while James was escorting her across the grounds. Verity jogged to catch them up and put a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Lilo, are you all right?"
"Hee hee hee," Lily replied, daintily wiping a tear from the corner of one eye. "Can you imagine?" she asked gleefully, holding up an outstretched hand, "Rita Skeeter . . . Bang!" The Head Girl collapsed into a fit of giggles again.
"I knew it!" Verity hissed at James, "I knew you'd do it one day, and today's the day! You've driven her completely crackers!"
"Hooch! I am scandalised!" James said, as he set a gasping Lily down on one of the benches. "Although, you're quite right, you do have to be crackers to laugh at my jokes."
Verity tripped on her own feet. This day was getting more bizarre by the minute. The James of two years ago would have never said something like that. The James of two years ago would have smirked because everyone probably would be laughing at his jokes, and if they weren't, he'd repeat them . . . only louder.
Feeling a spell of dizziness coming on, Verity went off to get changed.
Lily was still having the odd burst of soft giggles when she lined up next to James just inside the entrance to the changing rooms. James was grinning.
It was a rather amazing feeling, making Lily laugh. He didn't think he'd ever had that pleasure before. Usually he was making her either growl in a threatening manner, roll her eyes in exasperation or tear her hair out in fury.
As Remus's magnified voice began to echo throughout the pitch, James thought that making Lily laugh would be a good habit to pick up.
"Students, professors, witches, wizards . . . and anyone else I've missed," Remus announced from the commentator's box. "This is the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch! We'll start the bidding at six sickles! Thank you, sir! Anyone for seven? Yes, you in sixth row. Eight for you in the Ravenclaw scarf. Going . . . going . . . Sold! For eight sickles, thank you madam, and now on to today's match!"
James's grip tightened on his broomstick as the Ravenclaw team jogged onto the muddy pitch behind their captain. The familiar adrenaline was beginning to simmer in his ribcage.
"Presenting the Ravenclaw Team: Keats, Edwards, Peterson, Howe, Connor, Chein and their captain . . . Rys! Peterson has apparently been training hard these past months to replace the former seventh year Chaser, Frederick 'fearless' Tyler."
Verity leaned forward and tapped Lily on the shoulder.
"Good luck, Lilo," she whispered with a wink.
"I'd wish you luck, but you hardly need it," Lily whispered back, smiling weakly.
"Same to you, luvvie," Verity said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Let's go thrash 'em, hm?"
"And their opponents, the Gryffindors: Black, Hooch, Tall, Barker, Kipping, Evans and their captain . . . Potter! In this team's recent news, Ainsley Tall has successfully recovered from the injury he sustained whilst falling down the stairs over the holiday period. When asked to comment, he retains that it was the unusually large amount of brandy his grandmother put in the Christmas pudding."
It wasn't long before Mr Richards limped up to the lines of players. Being lamed in the last of Gryffindor's Quidditch matches, James saw he had gotten someone to reattach his leg. The referee gave Sirius a poisonous look as he passed the seventh year boy.
"Yeah, that's right," James heard him mutter, "it's back on, no thanks to you . . ."
"Looking good, sir," Sirius nodded cheerfully, and Mr Richards shook his head and limped on.
The Ravenclaw captain was an extremely tall sixth year girl with a mass of violently orange, wildly curly hair that added at least three inches to her height. Even without the hair, she was almost as tall as James when he shook her hand with a friendly smile.
Lily was sure she wasn't the only one who saw Emmeline Rys smile shyly and try to push her hair behind her ear. Good grief, was absolutely everyone in love with Potter? Sometimes it seemed to her as if she were the only sane person for miles.
"Mount your brooms!" Mr Richards called, and as the players mounted, so did the tension.
"That was the whistle and there they go!"
Immediately, the noise in James's ear doubled as the crowd cheered harder.
"First possession taken by Gryffindor, it's Simon Kipping for Gryffindor gaining yards by the second. Is that a new broom I see him riding? Yes, it is and rumour has it that particular model is not available to the wizarding public at large and can only be obtained via the Russian military."
James sped alongside Simon and his Russian broomstick while Verity flew on Simon's other side. At the sight of a Ravenclaw Chaser approaching him fast in the opposite direction, Simon feigned passing left to James and when the Ravenclaw keeled off to his left, Simon passed right to Verity.
"Hooch scores!" declared Remus and Gryffindors throughout the stands celebrated. There seemed to be a general movement among the third years of shooting sparkly bits of red and gold parchment out of their wands in festivity, and James thought sullenly that Professor Flitwick had never bothered to teach them that charm. "Ten-nil to Gryffindor and possession returns to Edwards for Ravenclaw, who passes straight down to Peterson."
Lily was feeling good, all things considered. All things being that she was suspended forty feet in the air, wet, freezing and scared witless. However, this was a lot better than last time, last time being when she felt she might pass out with fright or embarrassment or both.
The Ravenclaw Seeker and Captain, Rys was shouting encouragement to her Chasers, but Lily wondered whether they could hear her with the inconvenience of her hair, which had a habit of being blown in front of her face. Lily, who had quite a lot of hair herself, had dragged her ringlets back to the top of her head, plaited them and fastened them with industrial strength elastic. However, she only had about a fifth of Rys's hair, so why wouldn't the Ravenclaw captain have taken something in the way of her own precautions?
Anyway, Lily had no time to worry about hair, whether it was hers or the opposition's. She still hadn't scoured the Ravenclaw end of the pitch, and the score was now thirty-twenty to the Ravenclaws. So, with renewed determination and confidence that only comes when your hair is staying right where you want it to, Lily flew down the other end of the pitch and continued her search.
James, on the other hand, wasn't having such a good time of it. His troubles, though, were nothing to do with his hair, since he had long accepted the fact that his hair would never stay right were he wanted it to. His quandary had arisen as a result of the Ravenclaw Captain, who didn't seem to want to leave her Chasers alone. Due to her unnaturally large amount of involvement with them, it seemed to James as if it was four Ravenclaws against three Gryffindors and this was very off putting for him and for his fellow Chasers, he imagined. She also wouldn't stop looking at him.
It wasn't that James had a problem with people looking at him. On the contrary, he had a more of a need than most people to be the centre of attention. However, Rys was giving him the sort of looks that indicated she was looking at him to see if he was looking at her, which, of course, James had to when he was constantly feeling her stare in the back of his head.
The above distractions were probably factors leading to the consequence of Ravenclaw leading sixty-thirty.
James ran his hands through his hair in irritation and caught the Quaffle that Simon had just spun under a Ravenclaw Chaser.
"And the Quaffle goes to Potter for Gryffindor, who evades a tackle by Ravenclaw's Connor. Bludger ahoy!"
James saw it speeding straight at him. Thinking fast, he tossed the Quaffle up above him, shoved the end of the broom down hard and heard the black ball whiz past over his head. The Quaffle on the other hand, fell straight into his arms on its downward trip and since the Bludger had cleared the air of Ravenclaw Chasers, James beat the keeper and scored.
"Twenty-eight and half minutes in and the score is now sixty-forty to the Ravenclaws. Possession goes to Edwards. Which side will score again before the half hour?"
It turned out to be Ravenclaw . . . twice, once when Ainsley mistook Rys for a Chaser who could be passed to and tried to cover her shooting range as well as the three real Chasers', once when James got distracted when trying to tackle Peterson.
"It's eighty-forty and once again, the Ravenclaws have twice as many points as the Gryffindors do. It seems the lions are having a bit of an off day," Remus said curiously into the microphone. "Usually they're renowned for having one of the school's strongest teams of Chasers. I wonder what's going wrong today . . ."
Gaining confidence, Lily wound her way though balls and players with increasing speed. Through the previously indistinguishable cheering of the crowd, there emerged the sound of definite words.
Lily frowned in incredulousness as the words took on a tune and spread ferociously through the stands. Some saddo had made up a song!
Go Potter! Go on Potter!
On a broomstick, no one's hotter!
It's not how he looks, it's just how he plays
Although he's still gorgeous on his worst hair days!
James was sure the suspension on Sirius's broomstick was suffering dramatically with the way it was shaking with his best friend's laughter. Rolling his eyes, he screwed his concentration back onto the game, although he couldn't help listening with half an ear. Even with about eight hundred people belting it out, the song didn't seem to mean a thing when the words weren't Lily's.
"Despite . . . ahem . . . enthusiastic support," Remus said after trailing off his commentary to listen to the song, "Potter's team is still dragging behind with seventy points to Ravenclaw's one hundred and twenty. Bludger towards Hooch! Black! Stop that bloody hysterical giggling and do your job!"
The noise level on the pitch immediately plummeted to the level of mass whispering with people muttering gleefully to their friends, or demanding of them what had been said that was so scandalous.
"I mean . . ." Remus amended quickly, his voice low with embarrassment, "Gryffindor's behind enough already . . ."
"Alright! Alright!" James heard Sirius shout, gliding away to follow the nearest Bludger, "I'll take care of your girlfriend, don't get too stressed, now!"
Verity threw the Quaffle at his head.
Remus's defensive muttering was interrupted however, because the crowd had started up another verse of singing. A few seconds in, and Lily felt like flying away over the Forbidden Forest to escape the indignity of it all.
Go Evans! Go on Evans!
Chase that Snitch up to the Heavens!
We know you can catch it at any distance
And then, while you're at it, give Potter a chance!
Seizing the Quaffle, and dodging a Ravenclaw Chaser, James held out a grateful hand to the crowd, shouting "Thank you! Thank you!" as if they were all MPs that had backed him up in a parliamentary argument. Shooting at the Ravenclaw goal and awarding Gryffindor ten points, he turned to Lily and hollered "See? Public opinion's in my favour!"
Lily was sure that her lungs were slowly shrivelling up with chronic embarrassment and she rolled her eyes in a bid to look like she couldn't care less about the stupid song. In their sweep across the sky, her eyes caught on something, like your school uniform sometimes unluckily gets caught on a piece of classroom furniture. Something of that sort had happened to Lily last year in Potions when her skirt had gotten caught on a dented cauldron and flashed her underwear to everyone exiting the classroom behind her. Since then, James had tripled his efforts in getting her attention.
Anyway, her eyes had caught on something bright and shiny, and for the first time during the match, it wasn't the Ravenclaw Captain's hair.
The Snitch was playfully fluttering around the base of the right Gryffindor goalpost. As if it sensed it had been spotted and had the glaring searchlights of a prison tower focused on it, the Snitch darted off towards the centre of the pitch, wings humming fiercely in a bid to escape capture.
The rational part of Lily's brain shut off completely, leaving the irrational part a free reign on the decision-making front. The irrational part was not really accustomed to having this privilege very often, as Lily was by and large a very rational person, so when Lily chose on the rare occasion to be irrational, she certainly didn't do it by half.
Therefore, it wasn't surprising from a psychological point of view when she made her broomstick drop like a sickle off the top floor of Gringotts. It was fairly surprising from a spectator's point of view however, which was probably why a massive gasp gripped the crowd and a third of the onlookers stood up in shock.
Twisting around to see what all the fuss was about, James froze as he saw Lily hurtling towards the ground, then, before he could even attempt to make sense of it all, it all made sense by itself. Lily's eyes were determined, and her hands firmly clasping the broom handle. She was plummeting towards the grass with a purpose, and next second, James saw the purpose glinting gold against the green.
"Come on, Lily!" he hollered at the top of his voice. "Whoa," he added, jerking out of the way as the Ravenclaw Captain sped past him, faint panic on her face.
Lily's dive went shallower as she curved level with the ground on nearing it. The Snitch zipped back and forth only ten metres in front of her, but she was gaining. In the very top of her vision, a mass of frizzy, orange hair on a broomstick was flying towards her and towards the Snitch. Lily willed herself to go even faster.
Bracing her knees tightly on either side of her Nimbus, she took one hand off the handle and reached out in front of her.
Her fingers brushed the humming wings of the Snitch.
Startled, the golden ball hopped further ahead, its humming now seemingly desperate. Beyond the Snitch, Lily could see Rys approaching fast, in exactly the opposite direction to herself.
Here Lily was faced with a dilemma. Should she be sensible and clever and pull away before either of them got hurt, or should she be fantastically stupid and rush into a lethal game of chicken?
Chicken it was, then.
It was merely the issue of Lily's hatred of losing. Moreover, it was Lily's hatred of losing to Rys. It didn't quite make sense, but she suddenly felt this abject disgust at the prospect of losing to someone who fancied Potter.
A doubt flickered in her mind for a nanosecond, as doubts frequently tend to do in these life-or-death situations. Was it that she didn't want to lose to someone who liked Potter, or was it that she didn't want to lose to someone who liked Potter and so lose Potter to someone who liked him?
This thought was made less sense than the previous one, and besides, Lily had more important things to think about, for example, stretching out her palm.
The Ravenclaw captain mirrored this movement, grinning because the Snitch was flying away from Lily and towards her.
"It's a game of Niffler on the Gringotts' Tracks!" Remus exclaimed to the enthralled crowd. "The Snitch is heading towards the Ravenclaw Seeker, but Evans is getting closer by the second!"
The Ravenclaw Seeker was looking terrified now that Lily was showing no inclination of swerving away and was actually closer to the Snitch. Her hair was even frizzier with fright, but her eyebrows were furrowed in determination, and Lily had to hand it to her, she was being very brave. Either that, or fancying someone made you do crazy things.
Lily suddenly saw what was going to happen. She saw all the events in row, one by one.
The Snitch would finally twig that it was flying straight into Rys's hands, and then fly upwards to avoid the both of them, leaving herself and Rys to crash into each other, neither having caught the Snitch.
Now she understood why you always had to be two steps ahead in chess, now she understood why people won wars because of foresight and now she understood why people who were good at chess and winning wars were also very good at making a lot of money on the stock market.
She and Rys were merely three metres away from each other when the captain shut her eyes tightly and Lily jerked her broom handle upwards, curling over Rys like a dolphin leaping over the surface of the sea. Inhaling in a great rush, the Head Girl saw Rys rocket past underneath her, just as the Snitch froze in the face of the Ravenclaw and decided to whiz upwards instead.
As Rys careered off behind Lily empty-handed, the snitch rose upwards to the redhead's eye level.
Lily smiled before snatching it out of the air.
Having won the Quidditch game, the Head Girl needed little else to make her happiness complete, and this 'little' happened to be entirely encompassed in a long, warm bath.
Sighing, she crossed the hall of the Heads' Dorms and entered that bathroom, so eager to begin running the water that she forgot to do one very important thing. Soon, Quidditch robes, shin pads, arm pads, socks, shoes and underwear littered the floor of the bathroom as Lily sunk into the foam-capped water, soaking in all the warmth and breathing in the sweet-smelling formulas that mixed in with the water. She closed her eyes and lay back, setting her ankles down on the far edge of the bathtub with her knees bent and smiled, as foam crawled down her legs back onto the water.
Whistling, James strode into the Heads' dorms on top of the world. He even did a little skip as he passed the coffee table, un-strapping his arm pads and tossing them onto the sofa. Still whistling, he went up his staircase and came back down in his boxers and a T shirt, making for the bathroom.
Lily opened her eyes when she heard a click. She'd forgotten to lock the door, she realised with mild surprise.
Oops.
The Head Boy reached a crescendo in his whistling as he crossed the tiled floor and stationed himself in front of the sink. Then, he switch to humming tunelessly as he loaded his toothbrush with paste and stuck it into his mouth. He then realised that the mirror above the sink was fogged up and wiped it clear again with the palm of his hand before he began brushing his teeth.
It was a few seconds before he thought about what he had just done. Where had the fog on the mirror come from? Why was there steam in the room? And where was that sweet smell coming from?
Lily watched James turn around, very slowly, with his mouth covered in toothpaste and his brush sticking out the side. James could do nothing more than freeze up the moment he saw her.
There she was . . . in the bath . . . and by the amount of clothes on the floor in front of her, he was pretty sure she wasn't wearing anything . . . in the bath. Then there the fact that her hair was piled on top of her head in curls, with the odd coil hanging down into the water. Her fingers dripped over the side from her arms resting on the edge of the bathtub, and then there was simply the way her feet ran into her ankles, that ran into her shins, that ran down into the foamy water.
He didn't think the way his glasses were fogging up had anything to do with the warmth of the air.
Lily smirked internally as she watched him turn redder by the second. His face was like a remembrall in the hands of a dying man who's forgotten to sign his last will and testament.
She crooked an eyebrow.
"Evening."
In an uncharacteristic spasm of sudden movement, James turned round, spat in the sink, chucked his brush into the cup above it, and sprinted out the door, slamming it shut with a bang.
Lily sank further down into the bubbles, covering her shoulders, laughing at the look of colossal shock that hit the Head Boy straight in the face. After her brief giggling fit, she contemplated what a colossal fraud he was. The most sought-after bachelor of Hogwarts was panicked by the sight of her, little old Lily Evans, taking a bath.
Hee hee, what a joke!
James on the other hand, was not laughing. He had not stopped running until he had arrived in his dorm, and even then, began sporadically pacing trying to get his brain past a single image that had been burnt into the core of his mind.
It wasn't just her hair, it was her shoulders, her neck, her eyes, glazed over with steam . . .
Swallowing, he went to open a window and sat down on his bed, wiping the toothpaste off his mouth.
Needless to say, his dreams that night involved pale skin, red hair, a lot of bubbles and a certain salutation.
a/n: Heya guys! Sorry it's been so long. The good news is that this week is half term (I get a whole week off!) so I will be able to churn out chapters faster. I have just been so busy since this year began. Normally I have time to write this fic, the odd one shot and some other fic on my computer at the same time, but this year I have been barely able to scrape together the moments for this one.
NOTE TO ALL: Anne-Janet and I have stumbled upon a fabulous idea! it has come to my attention that A LOT of people hate Rita Skeeter. I mean really detest her guts, with good reason too. She here is an invitation to everyone: (Hands out slips of card)
Come to koonelli and Anne-Janet's SkeeterBeater party!
Once koonelli has finished The Beautiful Game, she will have no more use for Rita and her sorry arse.
Why not have a go at beating Rita out of her bad ways with bat and wand alike?
After the last chapter of the fic, Rita will be stung up in a tyre from a Quidditch goal and readers will have a chance to vent their anger on the dastardly Ravenclaw.
The review describing the most eccentric or imaginative way in which Rita gets her comeuppance will have a one shot dedicated to the author.
So bring your cricket bats, bring your two-by-fours and Happy Beating! See you after the last chapter!
Please note that koonelli in no way condones violence. Well, except maybe when people deserve it.
snazzysnez: Haha, cheers love. About time indeed.
foxyie xox: Yes, I think progress is being made. Pray that it continues. Thanks for the review!
FrighteninglyObsessed: UUURRGGG! A Yule Ball or a party so that the main characters can get drunk and there can be a chapter of badly written sex? Cringes Well, rest assured there will be none of that here. This is a PG-13!
siriusforeva: Yes, your hopes made them win. They won just for you. :D
Shanti: EW! Mind! Gutter! Out! Now! He meant 'Verity'! Because thinks Remus fancies Verity! EW! But other than that, thanks for the review.
Alcapacien: A fart cake mondo? Haha, I shall have to use that in a fic sometime. I'm afraid Lily will never forgive Rita. It's a hopeless case. I think it was the kiss/newsletter that did it. Sorry, the two are irreconcilable, mainly because Rita is, as you said, a fart cake mondo. :D
LostConscience: I'm sorry you were having a mean day. You were very nice to me in your review, thank you very much.
Call-Sugarhigh-Police: Indeed, cheers!
shortywithbrains: Yes, I didn't know Remus knew Spanish either but apparently is a very worldly person. I think Sirius is too much of a playa to have one girl in my fic, but I have another use for the boy, never you worry. Here's a secret I shall with you and only you. It involves him sin camisa. :D
Aliane: Haha, yes. Since the story is largely about Quidditch, I thought Lily's friend should be someone obsessed, maybe a relative of Madam Hooch's? Oooohhhh, is that was the Sandlot is? That makes sense now. Is it good? Should I watch the film I am plagiarising?
Lyss: Thank you, love, keep reading.
Tsusetsu: I used to write poetry but then I realised it was crap and put it all through the shredder. You should hear the noise my mum's shredder makes, it's buff.
drumer girl: Thanks, love!
walkingcensure: Having a fangirl moment:D Oh, to hell with it, Squeeee!11!one!
milky way bar: Yes, mouth to mouth, always good, especially when both parties are ready and willing. ;)
kaiyana: Wonderfully portrayed? Why, thank you very much. Too bad she's a ho, eh?
limbo-gal: Heehee, yes Lily is jealous. Heehee. I love to tease her, poor thing.
SnakeEyesHannah: Wow, you are very flattering, thank you so much. I wouldn't worry about how expensive the broom was. If you read the Daily Prophet's financial section, apparently the Potters and their various organisations, companies and projects amount to 5 of the whole wizarding economy so . . . it's the thought that counts, eh?
Tracey: James he appreciates your victory dance . . . both your victory dances because it shows that public opinion is in his favour. So, on behalf of James, thank you very much. Most of my art is either school stuff or birthday card for people, nowt interesting but I like doing it. Your friend's art intrigues me. Thanks for the birthday wish. I did have a good birthday. Is was nice and sensible so I can lure my parents into a false sense of security and let me have a big garden party in the summer.
Sushinase: Wow, I guess you liked a lot of things about the chapter. I love that you list them all. Yes, James is a little fixated, but the poor boy is in love, you can hardly blame him. Mafia!James rocks my socks. Thanks for the review, honey.
Anne-Janet: Can I have some good-mood tea? I want to organise a BBQ this summer after exams so that everyone can being their notes after they have given up subject and burn them. Then the joy will be spread. You're welcome to come.
Phillippa of the Phoenix: Laughs about what? And why aren't you laughing? OMG! The SkeeterBeater party is on! Genius!
The Big Dance: Thanks for the review, love. I am intrigued by your name. Is it a theory about life?
Victoria87: Heya. Well, would you look at that. I seemed that just as things were getting hot, like you wanted, James was actually the one that ran away! Haha! How ironic. :D
MissMrprk:) What are we smiling about?
mika-mitch: Aw, I'm glad my story made your day better. What have I smoked? Is this a trick question:D
ArkMage: Thanks, honey.
kiwislushie: Aw, thanks. Fluff is always good. Thanks for reviewing!
charbar: Haha, I may spin and spin and spin . . . I hope your having a good half term. Don't do too much work now. Work Bad.
soccerchic1989: Thanks love. No coffee (apart from the occasional sip from naidel's) for over a month. Weh-hey. :D
naidel: Yes, the poor boy needs it indeed. He's so sweet and I love him.
Flavagurl: Thank you so much, honey. Keep reading, I love you for it.
EvilQueenHannah: I can never ever be bothered to print out chapters. I always say 'Oh, I'll read it later,' but then I never do. Thank so much for reading.
Daman5: Cheers.
Denierure: Thanks you very very much.
milky way bar: Aw, you're lovely. Thanks for the review.
vickiicky: Whoa. Caps, much:D Thanks for carrying on with the story. I guess that bit grossed a lot of people out. I think it's quite, but don't take my word it. That's what my lovely beta Rose is for.
Prongs(F): Thank you love, I'm glad you like Lily as a seeker. I wasn't sure how people would react at first. I thought I would get burned at the stake for 'Mary-sueing'.
newsieduckling: Thank you love, keep reading.
Red-Emerald: Finished your work yet? Thank you for your lovely review. The kiss grossed a lot of people out. But don't worry. Rita will get what's coming to her.
The ORIGINAL Meathead: Thank you so much. Glad you liked the chappy. Poor James indeed. :D
Next chappy:
Rita turns Hogwarts Hearsay into a family business
The paparazzi stalk Sirius
Lily tests her public speaking skills, and fails miserably
Lots of luff, your on-holiday author
