Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are familiar to you. They are owned by J.K Rowling, and this fan fiction is written solely for entertainment.
Chapter 22: Kelsey Wasn't There
It was the beginning of October and the Quidditch season has begun. I had been practicing for over two weeks every single day and James better be happy with my progress. Frankly, I have improved dramatically if I do say so myself. Everyone on the team was a great help and as gruesome as the practices are, I've never had more fun in my entire life. James is overly-confident about our first game and is absolutely positive that we'll win against Ravenclaw. I was so nervous that day, Cecily threatened to feed me the food if I didn't eat. Now I understood when Harry wouldn't eat before his first game. Finally, Sirius came over and told me I'd be miserable out there if I didn't eat, so I did.
Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Quidditch players left lunch early so they could change and prepare. I sat in the girl's room with Lily, Cecily and Alice changing when James knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" I yelled toward it. James leaned in as if not sure I had fully changed or not. He looked relieved when he realized we were all in there and all I needed to put on was an arm guard and grinned.
"Are you ready?"
I exhaled.
"Let's hope so."
I got up and followed him out. Suddenly he stopped.
"Keep walking straight down there. I just realized I left my girlfriend without saying anything before a Quidditch match." He said with a grin. He retreated back toward the locker rooms and I continued foreword. I hadn't seen Kelsey since breakfast and she hadn't come into the locker room like she promised to. She's probably in the stands cheering with the rest of the Gryffindors.
I continued to wander.
"Damn, now I'm lost."
Although I had been at Hogwarts for over a year, I still can't find places. Or things....or people. Hell, there were times where I'd open a door to a classroom and realize it was broom closet. It's even more embarrassing when there's a snogfest in progress when you open the door. I took a left turn and I stopped.
"Good God! Someone find me!!!"
"Caroline!" came a voice from a distance away.
"Thank you!"
I turned to see Sirius walking into what I discovered was that wooden door thing that Harry was in right before the game began. This was embarrassing.
"Where the bloody hell are you going?" he yelled.
"I'm really not sure."
"Well get your arse over here!"
"Okay, okay..." I mumbled as I hurried over. James was already there and he held out his hand.
"Give me your broom."
Confused, I clutched to the handle.
"What are you going to do with it?"
"Nothing, just give it to me."
My first, crazy thought was that he was pulling me off the team. But that wouldn't be logical, so I gave it to him. Taking it, he chucked it over his shoulder. I was about to yell at him in protest but he then held out a brand new broom. And I mean BRAND NEW. It was sleek and shiny with the word COMET on the end.
"What?" I hesitated, taking it.
"It's yours. I bought it." He said.
I jerked my head up.
"You bought it for ME?"
It looked very expensive, but I guessed "expensive" has a different meaning to James Potter. Did he buy one just for me? I mean, I was new to the team, but that wouldn't be fair and James was a very fair person Man, now I felt bad.
"Yeah, the whole team got one."
"Oh, okay. That's good."
The commentator began to speak, cueing me into a run next to Sirius behind those wooden doors. My heart hadn't beaten this hard in my life. Watching Quidditch was absolutely NOTHING like playing it. I was so nervous I began to sweat ever so slightly. Sirius noticed how scared I looked.
"Are you okay?"
"What-oh, yeah I'm good." I lied. I was about to say something else when the doors rose and the sunlight illuminated our faces. I followed James's cue and flipped my leg over my new broomstick. James turned and gave us a last look before soaring out into the stadium, the rest of us right behind him. The Gryffindor stands screamed hoarsely as we flew in formation, me always next to Sirius. I noticed Lily, Cecily and Alice in the stands and waved my beater bat at them. I didn't have time to acknowledge if they had seen me, when ultra-young Madame Hooch blew her whistle sharply. I followed Sirius into our beginning position and waited with extreme apprehension as Madame Hooch looked up at all of us. After a terse lecture, she kicked open the ball case and the two bludgers whizzed up. I ducked as one sped over my head and gripped tighter to my bat. The Snitch flapped up next. I lost sight of it no less than a second since it came out, but I knew James was eyeing it as that very moment.
Madame Hooch took hold of the Quaffle and the stadium was quiet for a long moment. In a sudden swift movement, Madame Hooch threw the Quaffle into the sky, simultaneously screeching into her whistle. I soared upward out of the way of the sudden frenzy of Chasers. The stadium burst into loud shrieks and flags waving.
Taking a brave chance, I entered the main frenzy of players, swerving this way and that. Bludgers burst through openings and nicks of wood cracking against my bat whenever I managed to hit it, which to my stunned and proud surprise, often. Loose strands of my brown hair whipped in my face as I swung a Bludger toward a Ravenclaw Chaser. To my delight, the Bludger smashed into her broom from the side and she swerved off course, giving Jude Wheeler the chance to retrieve the Quaffle from her fumbled grasp. The crowd screamed as Jude pitched the Quaffle through the hoop easily. James shouted brief plan directions to the Chasers before flying to the side out of the way.
James rested still, his eyes carefully looking for the Snitch and keeping a close watch on the Ravenclaw Seeker. He hadn't seen it yet and apparently, neither had the other Seeker. His hand rose to brush back his hair when he stopped. He spotted the Snitch fluttering by Elliot's head and taking one last glance at the Ravenclaw Seeker and then out into the crowds to perhaps where Lily was watching, he bolted toward it with an agile, flying elegance that had no competition from anyone else.
Lily watched carefully, keeping an eye on James to see whenever he'd seen the Snitch. He looked so good when he played Quidditch. She could say that now that they were together. She looked onward to Caroline who swerved in between two Chasers courageously. She turned to Cecily and Alice.
"Where's Kelsey?"
They both shrugged so Lily assumed she was lost in the crowd and sitting somewhere else. Looking back up into the game, she watched James sit still waiting. Suddenly, completely by surprise, James zoomed downward at a speed to fast for Lily to know.
"JAMES POTTER HAS SEEN THE SNITCH! THERE'S HOWARD, RAVENCLAW SEEKER, RIGHT BEHIND HIM..." the commentator yelled. Lily jumped up as she watched James speed through the stadium. She yelled words of sincere encouragement and beamed at him. Then, Cecily elbowed her.
"Look!" she yelled over the crowd and pointed toward a Bludger. It was pummeling right towards James. The blood drained from Lily's face.
The whole game seemed to stop while James and Howard raced toward the Snitch and it wasn't until I noticed out of the corner of my eye a Bludger streaking through the air that I took my eyes off the two Seekers. The Bludger was getting much to close to comfort toward the two Seekers and if not more, seemed to be heading directly towards them. I looked around madly for Sirius and finally caught his eyes.
"Sirius!" I yelled and pointed toward the Bludger heading right towards James. Sirius sprang into action. Motioning his hand in panic for me to follow, he tore through the wind after the Bludger. Taking his lead, I skyrocketed forward as fast as I could go. He came from the left of the two Seekers; I came from the right, both heading in the same direction. Raising my bat apprehensively, I took notice how it could crash into James at any moment now. Howard caught sight of it and flew upward slightly so it wouldn't hit him. James took no notice of it. He was so close to the Snitch, the world around him was motionless. When he was in arm's length of the tiny gold ball, he stretched out his arm and reached forward and...
"JAMES!!" screamed two voices from either side of him. Jerking his head to the side, he caught just one glimpse of a dark ball meet his eye. The Bludger slammed into his outstretched arm with a tremendous amount of speed. There was a chilling crack as the ball met his bone and his arm snapped in an awkward position. He let out a loud yell of pain that seemed to echo into the stadium. His arm collapsed onto his broom and he screamed silently through gritted teeth in agony, tears stinging his eyes.
When Sirius and I realized the Bludger had already hit, we tried to stop but our amount of speed made it unstoppable. Letting out a slight scream, I collided with James and Sirius, Sirius's broom jutting into my side. The pain was awful and I yelped spasmodically. With all the strength I could find, I rose up out of the way, but Sirius's bat met my shin with a force no faster than James's bludger.
Uncontrollably, I screamed in pure agony when my leg twitched to the side and then went limp. Tears began to flow freely, until I realized the Bludger coming back towards us, toward Sirius from behind. Before I could say a thing, the Bludger skimmed Sirius back, but still hit him with force most likely FASTER than James's Bludger. Sirius let out a shout of sharp pain and tumbled forward from the impact before James could catch him with his free hand. Sirius, though indeed in far more pain than any of us, he reached and grabbed onto his broom with both hands, dangling in the air, trying to mount it again. The pain was too much for him to try. He moaned inwardly as his back throbbed painfully.
Lily leaned forward in horror, speechless.
"Oh no..." she gasped. Turning toward Cecily and Alice with a panicked look in her eyes, she hurried down from the stands.
"Come on! I don't know what happened to James or any of them but I'm not waiting around to find out!" she yelled behind her and ran fearfully down the wooden steps.
I closed my eyes and waited hopefully for Madame Hooch to blow her whistle and wished for the pain to stop. I could hear the crowd gasping and making sounds of anguish and I could not believe this had to happen. I blamed myself over and over quietly until finally Madame Hooch's whistle screeched into the air. I willingly, flew down to the ground as did James and (as carefully as possible) Sirius. Madame Pomphrey, McGonagall, and Dumbledore himself came hurrying onto the field. One of the other nurses took hold of my elbow and helped me hop across the field. Madame Pomphrey, McGonagall and Dumbledore helped Sirius, who was injured above all of us. James insisted on staying with Sirius and did stay with him, much to the protests of Madame Pomphrey.
They took all three of us back under the bleachers and made us sit down (except for Sirius, who lay down on a stretcher). Students were spilling in to see what had happened, but the staff made a ring around the crowd to keep them out. Lily pushed through the wild students persistently and hurried toward us but was blocked by the ring of teachers. Dumbledore allowed her to come in, but Cecily and Alice were not.
"James!" she said loudly over the crowd of shouting students. James, who had been talking to Sirius while Madame Pomphrey mended his arm, looked up and smiled widely.
"Hey," he said.
"Oh Merlin..." Lily began, shaking her head. She hurried toward him and threw her arms around his neck. James wrapped his good arm around her and let his broken arm (which was now in a sling) hang at her side.
"Are you alright?" she whispered into his neck. He exhaled deeply.
"I'm fine. I just broke my arm."
"I should say so! Even though I wasn't completely sure what had happened to you, I heard the crack clear from the Gryffindor stands." Lily said, pulling away. She touched his bad arm softly, gingerly running a finger over the growing bruise. She looked up at him and frowned.
"Where'd the black eye come from?" she asked, her hand rising to his cheek.
"Probably when those two slammed into me." He said, nodding toward Caroline and Sirius. Lily looked them over.
"What happened to Caroline?"
"Broke her leg. Sirius's bat hit it. That was when she screamed."
Lily grimaced.
"What about Sirius?" she said uneasily, knowing he had it worst. James looked over at him and shrugged.
"I don't know. The Bludger hit him in the back." He said. Lily winced as if feeling all three of their pain together.
"I'm sorry James..."
James shook his head.
"It's fine. Madame Pomphrey can put us back together again easily." He said. There was something else in his voice and in his eyes that made Lily think there was something else. After a few moments, she looked up at him and sighed.
"Howard got the Snitch, James." She said, knowing he was most likely well aware of this. James ran his hand through his hair.
"I know." He said quickly, looking away from her. Lily caught his gaze again.
"It's alright, James. It's only the first game. Besides, you didn't technically lose. If the Bludger hadn't gotten in the way, you would have caught the Snitch."
James knew that, but the game still hung heavily in his mind. Although, hearing it from Lily raised his spirits quite a bit. Smiling, he nodded and leaned down and kissed her deeply and for as long as possible, not wanting her to leave his side. Unfortunately, Madame Pomphrey interrupted them.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black and Miss Lefave must be taken to the Hospital Wing immediately,"
Madame Pomphrey announced. "And ONLY them."
After much protest from James and me, she allowed Lily, Cecily, Alice and Kelsey come too. When we arrived at the hospital wing, everyone was there except Kelsey. Remus came hurrying in no more than a second after we arrived.
Madame Pomphrey allowed me to go back up to the common room first. It took some time to walk up the stairs with my healing leg, but it gave me time to think of excuses why Kelsey wasn't there. She must have been at the game. Of course she was at the game. She wouldn't have missed it but it seemed strange she never came to see any of us after what had happened. By the time I had made it up to the Fat Lady, my excuses had run out. My anger was rising as I stumbled stupidly into the common room. There was quite a crowd in the common room. Mostly first years, who found Sirius and James and Remus fascinating in every way. They didn't seem to notice when I came in which in my mood, was most likely a good thing. I bent down to rub my aching leg that was killing me after the long walk up here.
"Caroline!" came a voice from the top of the stairs. I looked up and Kelsey came running toward me with a fearful look in her face. (An expression similar to the one when I got "lost" in a shopping mall when we were 14.) A/n: hee hee hee.
"I heard what happened! Are you alright?!"
My anger was boiling at the most and I glared at her.
"You HEARD what happened?"
Kelsey froze. "Caroline, I--"she began, but I interrupted her.
"You weren't there, were you?" I said coldly.
Kelsey didn't say anything.
"WERE YOU?!" I shouted. The students in the common room began to look up. Kelsey seemed to be thinking really quickly, but didn't succeed. She looked down at the ground.
"No, I wasn't."
I scoffed.
"If I remember correctly, you told me—no, you PROMISED me you'd be there and you'd see me after the game!" I yelled. Kelsey looked up.
"I'm sorry Caroline, it's just—"she looked around at the students and leaned foreword and whispered, "Tomorrow's a full moon. I won't be able to see Remus at all tomorrow. I forgot and I was with him all afternoon. I'm so sorry, Caroline. I didn't realize---"
"YOU DIDN"T REALIZE THAT THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY WAS OUT SCREAMING IN THE QUIDDITCH STADIUM!" I yelled.
"LOOK, I'M SORRY!" Kelsey yelled. Her anger was rising. "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!"
I didn't answer that certain question but I didn't cease in screaming.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!" OF ALL THINGS YOU CAN MISS HERE, YOU MISS MY FIRST QUIDDITCH GAME! AND—AND YOU WERE WITH REMUS!"
"CAROLINE, I LIKE HIM! I REALLY, REALLY LIKE HIM! YOU KNOW THAT BETTER THAN ANYONE IN THIS WORLD! WHY ARE YOU MAKING SUCH A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS?! YOUR NEXT GAME IS IN TWO WEEKS! I"LL BE AT ALL OF THEM! I PROM—"
"YOU PROMISE?!" I roared. "YOU PROMISE?! HOW CAN I BELIEVE YOU IF ALL YOU DO IS BREAK THEM?!"
"I'M NOT GOING TO BREAK THEM! IT WAS JUST TODAY! I WAS JUST WITH REM—"
"GOOD GOD! YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH REMUS! WHAT ABOUT ME, KELSEY?! YOU'VE KNOWN ME SINCE I WAS IN GRADE 6 AND NOW I NEVER SEE YOU EVER!"
"IS THAT WHAT THIS IS ABOUT?! MY BOYFRIEND?! WELL, DON"T BLAME JUST ME OR HIM FOR THIS CAROLINE, BECAUSE I NEVER SEE YOU ANYMORE EITHER! YOU THINK YOU'RE ON TOP OF THE WORLD WITH YOUR AUROR STUDIES AND QUIDDITCH!
"I DIDN'T ASK TO BE PUT ON THE QUIDDITCH TEAM, KELSEY AND IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, YOU WANTED ME TO GO FOR THE TEAM! AND STUDYING TO BE AN AUROR HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT EITHER SO JUST SHUT UP!
Kelsey shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes. I was already crying.
"You know what?! I don't care anymore!" she yelled and spun on her heel toward the stairs.
"Oh...NO. I'M NOT DONE YET!" I screamed. I whipped out my wand. Shouting a spell at the top of my lungs, I shot cords out and wrapped them around Kelsey's hands and ankles. She didn't fall however, but would have if she had moved. I started to yell all sorts of things that didn't make sense to me at all. When I wasn't looking, Kelsey managed to get her wand out of her back pocket and untie the cords. She aimed her wand threateningly at me, glaring coldly.
"I DON"T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PROBLEM IS, CAROLINE BUT YOU BETTER SHUT UP! I'M SORRY I MISSED THE GAME ALRIGHT?! MERLIN, YOU JUST FREAK OUT OVER THE SMALLEST THINGS!"
I was about to retort another yell when,
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!!" came a loud voice from the portrait entrance. James stood there looking more Head Boy then ever and walked over so he stood between us. Neither I nor Kelsey said anything. The Common Room was deathly silent. I looked behind me. Sirius, Lily, Remus, Alice and Cecily were standing there absolutely stunned. There were First Years whispering with dumbstruck looks on their faces. Some Prefects seemed to be trying to get them up to their dormitories.
"WILL ONE OF YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!" James shouted, looking quite angry. His own wand was out. I glared coldly at Kelsey and lowered my wand which had been aiming at James's chest.
"Nothing. Everything is just peachy." I said, angry tears streaming from my face. Kelsey was crying too but I was too mad to care. I turned and glanced at Sirius, Lily, Remus, Alice and Cecily before walked toward the stairs. I stopped in front of Kelsey and shook my head. I pushed past her roughly and hurried up to the dormitory, fuming. The Common Room was deathly silent again and all eyes were on Kelsey. James turned toward her and lowered his wand. She did the same.
"What happened?" he asked. Kelsey looked down and then burst into sobs. Remus began to step foreword but Sirius stopped him.
"Nothing. Everything's just fine. She's...just upset...about the...game," Kelsey heaved between sobs and ran toward the portrait door. Pushing between Lily and Remus, she ran out into the castle.
"Kelsey—" Remus began but she was already out of sight. Glancing at the others, Remus pushed through the portrait after her. James put his wand back in his robe pocket. He looked at Lily, who still stood stunned in the doorway.
"You don't have any idea why they would get in a fight?" he asked. Lily shook her head.
"They were friends before they came to Hogwarts. They've never fought before." Lily said. She seemed shaken by it all. Sirius glanced around the Common Room then nodded toward Cecily's cousin, Trevor McKinnon, a Fourth Year.
"Hey, did you see what happened?"
"Yeah. They were yelling about the Quidditch match and breaking promises or something."
It didn't make much sense to any of them. Sirius rubbed his forehead.
"Okay, my back hurts at the moment, so I'll see you people later. Hell, my head hurts too..." He said and limped up the stairs. Alice and Cecily hurried up to the dormitory to see what they could do and since the action was over, the other students left leaving Lily and James in the room alone. James ran a hand through his hair and sat down on a couch. Lily sat down next to him. He looked quite frustrated. At the moment, there were quite a few things to be frustrated about and it was perfectly understandable.
"Are you alright?" she asked. He looked up at her and gave her a small smile.
"I'm fine. I'm just tired." He said, resting his broken arm on his leg. Lily sighed quietly.
"Come here," she said. James looked up at her again and smiled. Turning around, he lay down and put his head in Lily's lap. Lily's hand went to his hair and she began to run her fingers through it, looking out the window.
"How does your arm feel?
"It doesn't hurt much anymore. I won't need the sling by tomorrow." He said, his eyes closed. Lily nodded.
"You really scared me out there today at the match." Lily said softly. "I mean, when I heard the snap of the broken arm and then the three of you collided, I thought you were much for injured than you ended up being." She said, her voice slightly breaking. James opened his eyes and stared up at her.
"I'm sorry,"
Lily smiled and shook her head.
"It already happened. And you came out with just a broken arm and a black eye." She said, laughing lightly.
"Makes me look tougher, doesn't it?" he said, with a smirking grin, his eyes closed again. Lily laughed.
"Oh yeah, very tough," she laughed, her hand running over his jaw line.
"No, it really does. That's why girls find me so irresistible."
Lily scoffed and slapped his hard chest. (A/N: hard meaning muscles)
"OW!"
"Oh yeah, I've really fawned over you," she said, shaking her head.
"I bet you did. But you had a 'reputation' to keep up."
"HA! I had a reputation. If I'm not mistaken, you had quite the 'reputation' yourself."
"True, but at least my reputation got its benefits."
"Like what?"
"You."
Lily smiled and laughed lightly.
"I'm glad you handled Caroline and Kelsey earlier. I don't know how I would have. You did it very well.
James grinned and opened his eyes for the first time in a few minutes.
"And that is why I am Head Boy."
"True, although I still don't understand why you got the badge in the first place..."
"Oh please...what would you do without me?
Lily didn't know if he meant it personally or as Head Boy, but either way she didn't know what she would do without him.
"I wouldn't be able to go on!" she said, overly dramatic. James didn't know if she meant it personally or as Head Girl but he felt the same.
"Can I say one thing before I stop talking? Because yes, I know I talk too much."
Lily smiled.
"Okay..."
"I love you."
Lily smiled wider and leaned foreword, covering his lips with hers.
A/N: WOW, yay! I finished. Took me a while! Sorry! Well, I had to get some LJ fluff in there b/c they are soo cute together!!! This was a bit dramatic. But drama is always nice. Next chapter, don't expect Caroline and Kelsey to make up.