Disclaimer: Characters and settings are property of J.K. Rowling. What you don't recognize is mine. And I wish I owned the Marauders (specifically Sirius and Remus) but most unfortunately, I do not. L
X-X-X-X-X
Two Years LaterLily curled up in a squishy armchair, shivering even under her sweater. November of 1975 was unusually chilly, and Lily got cold easily. Smiling to herself – it was well into the evening, and the common room was silent with the exception of scratching quills – she opened her book and began to read.
Only to have the book snatched away from her. "Hey!" she protested indignantly, and scowled when her best friend flipped through the pages in boredom.
"Do not tell me you are reading Magical Theory again. It's the most bloody boring book in existence, right up there with Defensive Magical Theory."
"It is not!" Lily snatched her beloved book from Janine's hands, and added with a grumble, "And I happen to think Defensive Magical Theory is a very interesting read." Janine rolled her eyes, and Lily snapped, "Don't you have Quidditch practice or something to go to?"
"No, actually, I don't." Lily thought that the smug look on Janine's face should have been fined. "It's eight o'clock, Lily. Practice finished an hour ago."
"Oh. What about dinner?"
"I repeat, Lily. It's eight o'clock. Dinner's been over for hours. Or did you skip again so that you could study?" Janine's face was amusement mingled with disgust. "Oh, honestly. You've got the highest grades in our year. You're more or less the smartest witch in the entire bloody school! What more do you need to study for!?"
"Well, maybe if you studied more, you wouldn't have failed History of Magic last year!"
"I could have studied and passed if I had wanted to!"
"Then why didn't you?"
"I got an O.W.L. in History!"
"Barely! You were two questions away from a P!"
As was her custom, Janine ignored anything to which she couldn't come up with a retort and glanced at Lily's book, continuing, "And as if studying during dinner when there's nothing to study for isn't bad enough, you're reading Magical Theory for pleasure."
"You read for pleasure," mumbled Lily. Which wasn't exactly untrue. Although, Janine's version of 'reading for pleasure' meant flicking through Fashion and Quidditch Magazines. Certainly not reading Magical Theory. With a sigh of exasperation, she demanded, "Fine, you don't have Quidditch practice. Why don't you go do some extra practice for the upcoming game?"
"You are coming to the game, aren't you?" Janine asked suspiciously. By 'the game,' Janine meant the first Quidditch match of the year, on November 18th.
Which, incidentally, was two days away.
"Of course I'm coming." You'd skin me alive if I didn't. "Three in the afternoon, against Slytherin, right?"
Janine groaned. "No! Two in the afternoon, against Slytherin! Lily, get it right!" Lily sighed. Janine came from a family of all Quidditch players, and had been on a broomstick practically since she was born. She was completely gung-ho about the sport and insisted all of her friends attend every match. But that also came from being a Chaser on the Quidditch Team since the second year. Lily, on the other hand, was notoriously afraid of heights, and wouldn't have gone near a broomstick if someone had paid her.
"Sorry, sorry." Lily held up her hands in surrender. "Come on, cut me some slack. Just watching flight makes me sick. You should be grateful I'm even coming."
"And you should be grateful I'm not killing you for even thinking of not coming," Janine replied in her snobbiest voice. "So there!" She threw Lily's book aside – Lily lunged for it, but Janine quickly blocked her. Lily's chin smacked into the coffee table as she swerved to avoid smacking into Janine. Fabian Prewett, that year's Head Boy, scowled at her. She gave him a weak smile, and scowled at her friend.
"You like getting me in trouble, don't you?"
"Always. Evans, if you do not come to the match, I will personally-"
"-Kill me. Yes, I know." She sighed.
"Besides," added Janine with a mischievous smile, "your darling James will be there, playing Chaser…" It was a long-standing joke among the sixth-year Gryffindors (and most of the school, actually) that James and Lily were destined for each other, if only because they used to hate each other so much (although that had certainly changed, what with James's daily ritual of asking Lily out).
"I don't like Potter, Janine!" yelled Lily vehemently. Everybody turned and stared while Lily flushed a bright red. Fabian stood up.
"Evans, come on. You're a prefect, and some of us are actually trying to work. Show a little restraint, would you?" He glowered at her, and returned to his parchment, which, judging by the shimmering red ink, was not a sheet of notes, but rather a letter from his girlfriend (who actually happened to be Janine, at the moment).
Janine flipped her long dark brown ponytail over her shoulder. "Yeah. Show a little restraint, would you, Evans?" She smirked when Lily seized a pillow and threw it at Janine. Still grinning, Janine bent and handed Lily her book back. "Here's your darling book back."
"Thank you," muttered Lily. "Leave me alone, Janine. Go snog Prewett. Interestingly, I've wondered about something – what does your brother say about you dating him?"
"Which one?" drawled a nearby voice. "She has so many. They're like a swarm of bees." Janine and Lily whirled on Sirius Black, who had snuck up unnoticed, lounging casually in the sofa behind them. Lily almost envied the casual grace with which he lounged there – the casual grace that was all about him, the way his hair flipped into his handsome gray eyes, the casual grace with which he gave them a roguish smile and winked at her…
Okay, stop right there, Evans. You are not contemplating Sirius Black's sexiness. Although he is dead sexy.
Ugh! I did not just think that! No, no, no! Ew! So wrong, so wrong! Stop, stop, stop!
"Sod off, Black," snapped Janine. "Lily doesn't care for your flirtations." Yes, I do! Lily's inner hormones wailed. Lily's inner sensibility took a very large hammer and bashed them down forcibly. "And I only have four brothers."
"Oh, yes, only four…" He smirked, and then turned somber. "Listen, we've been thinking. We think-"
"You've actually thought? As in, used your brains? Apparently miracles do happen…" Sirius glowered loftily at Janine, a glower she was all too happy to return. Sirius opened his mouth – probably to snap out a witty retort, but Lily wisely intervened.
"Hang on," interrupted Lily. "Who is 'we'?" Sirius gave her a look that suggested she was crazy. "Right. You and your little circus of Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Carry on, then."
"We think that we might be able to get into Hogsmeade for a little… celebration party, after the game."
Now it was Lily's turn to shoot him a look as though he were crazy. Which, given the idea he had just suggested, he might have been. "Are you mad?" she hissed at him. "We can't sneak the entire bloody HOUSE into Hogsmeade, Black! That's just… stupid!"
"We have a way," he replied with a confident smile that made Lily's inner hormones swoon. Her inner sensibility beat down the inner hormones with an even bigger hammer this time.
"Well, forget it," Lily fumed at him, looking to her friend to back her up. "I absolutely forbid it. I'll go to a teacher; you see if I don't."
Sirius gave her a huffy look. "You're no fun at all, Evans."
"If it keeps our entire house from getting expelled, I'll carry on being no fun, thanks. Janine, back me up!"
Janine looked startled at having been asked her opinion – she was waving across the room to Fabian. Sirius rolled her eyes when she asked, "What?" Lily glowered. "Oh! Well… hang on… it's not such a bad idea, you know… despite its coming from Black…"
"Always a veiled insult," grumbled Sirius, but Lily overrode him.
"WHAT!?"
"Just think, Lil! We'd be doing something different! It'd be so much fun!" Janine's eyes sparkled.
"No. Absolutely not. No way in hell. Understand?"
Janine huffed a breath. "Well, let's at least not have it in here." Her eyes sparkled suddenly. Lily groaned, knowing that look. It was her special look – the one she reserved for her craziest ideas. The ones that always got them in trouble. "How funny would it be if we used the dungeons near the Slytherin Common Room? I bet it'd really make them angry…"
Sirius paused. "That could work. Nice idea, Garnet. Would you like a medal for that? You, coming up with an idea. That's quite an achievement."
"Sod off, Black."
Sirius ignored her, looking thoughtful. "We should decorate the Slytherin common room in Gryffindor colors to celebrate our victory, first, though. That would undoubtedly piss the stupid buggers off…"
"Hang on!" snapped Lily irritably. "You're assuming you even win the match." Sirius and Janine glowered at her. "Oh, right. With the two of you on the team, how can you possibly not win?"
"Potter. You forgot Potter and his oversized ego, too," chirped a nearby voice. They turned to face Alyssa, who was toying with her short blond hair nearby. "Just got back from dinner; all of us." She gestured to Jen and Marlene. "By the way, Black, your friends are looking for you." She gave him a puzzled, but nonetheless polite smile. "Something about a fountain, I believe."
Sirius leapt to his feet. "Merlin! I'd completely forgotten! Thanks, Comforts." He grinned cheekily at her, and then made a face at Janine. "I'll be sure to pass along the idea to the boys. We'll get a nice medal made for you, saying; 'The Only Idea the Useless Bint Ever Came Up With…"
"Bugger off, Black!" she snapped. He flicked her off with a cheeky smirk and disappeared.
"Could you two at least pretend to get along once in a while? And why is it that you and Black can have a row, but Fabian never yells at you?" mused Lily crankily.
"Because she's shagging Prewett and you're not," said Jen wisely. Janine scowled at her.
"I am not shagging him!"
"What, do they call it something different these days"
Lily had been about to intervene (again), when the portrait hole slammed, signaling Sirius's departure. A sudden sigh of relief went up around the room. Lily peered around curiously.
"Well, you know Black," said a nearby fourth-year practically. "Makes a ruckus wherever he goes, doesn't he – how were we supposed to get any work done?"
X-X-X-X-X
"And here comes the Gryffindor team!" The freezing wind almost whipped Alyssa's words away – Alyssa almost always commentated for the matches. "Captain Garnet, Black, other Garnet, Potter, Rennet, King, and Barrington!" There were roars that nearly drowned out the boos coming from the Slytherins.
"And here comes the team that everybody loves to hate – the Slytherins!" There were yells of laughter (joined by yells of anger courtesy of the Slytherins), just as Alyssa cried out, "What? It's true, Professor – okay, okay!" She sighed, and continued, "Captain Rosier, Dolohov, Black, Mulciber, youngest Black, Jugson, and Travers! Slimy gits, if you – right, right, I get it, Professor!"
Lily shook her head in amusement. It seemed that, from what she'd heard, all commentators – of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor, of course – were always prejudiced against Slytherins and loved to build up their own teams. Alyssa was no exception.
Lily watched Janine soar into the air, her broom wavering only slightly as she climbed steadily higher. Benedict Rennet, a seventh-year, who had caught the Quaffle, tossed it to Janine, who easily caught it and went streaking towards the Slytherin goal posts on her Nimbus 1001, which had only come out in the past year.
"Garnet takes the Quaffle!" Alyssa's words were practically muted out by the wind; Lily had to strain to hear them. "And she – ouch, that must have hurt!"
Janine dropped the Quaffle after being smacked in the side by a Bludger (and rolling over numerous times), but James zoomed below and caught it.
Without meaning to, Lily found her eyes straying to James. She was disgusted with herself for even thinking it, but he was a very good flier, and had she not known what his personality was like, she might have found him attractive. Especially when he flew. As if he were one with the broom. Wow. I don't think I've seen anybody fly that way – and that includes when Janine dragged me to the Quidditch World Cup. He's so – ack! Back up, back up! No, no, no! My inner hormones will not win! Stop thinking of James Potter!
"Are you all right, Lily?"
"I'm fine," Lily said gruffly to Marlene, who was beside her. "Peachy."
Flight was beautiful, as far as Lily was concerned, but she loathed it all the same. Just watching Potter fly so well – as if he didn't mind the height at all (which he probably didn't) – made her feel sick, although she could appreciate it. She looked at her gloved hands, tightly clenched in her lap.
"Hey!" She looked up – Marlene had to yell to be heard. "Are you sure you're okay? You look awful!"
"I'm fine!" Lily shouted back. Crossing her eyes, she tried to look at the match going on in front of her, but trying to be cross-eyed only confused her. She ended up mixing up the Slytherin and Gryffindor players. "What's the score?" she called to Marlene.
"20 – 40! Slytherin's winning!"
"When did that happen!?"
But Marlene had focused on the game again.
X-X-X-X-X
"Potter!" James could barely hear his voice, but Damien Garnet – current Captain, Beater, and seventh-year, not to mention Janine's brother – was definitely calling his name. He swerved, flying alongside the older boy, ducking occasionally so that Damien could swing his bat.
"What's up?" he shouted.
"Cassie's going crazy trying to catch the Snitch!" He was referring to Cassie Barrington, a fourth-year, and their seeker. "Rosier and Dolohov are being gits – she can barely move! We need to launch an all out offensive to keep them away! I've got Janine and Benedict working on that, but you have to keep Travers from catching the Snitch until Cassie can get there!"
"Got it!" hollered James, before diving away, seeing Quincy Travers – the Slytherin Seeker – take off towards the ground. James quickly blocked him. The Slytherin swore at him, trying to swerve around him, but James blocked him at every turn, grinning madly. Eventually, Travers got so infuriated that he gave up and flew in the other direction. James looked around, trying to spot Cassie – but the girl was being barraged by Bludgers. Sirius had just given up hitting Bludgers and was swooping towards her, Beater's bat raised. He spent the next five minutes swooping around her like a hawk, shooting threatening glares at anyone who dared to come too close.
James sighed – and saw Janine waving frantically at him, Quaffle in one arm. He nodded – she threw it at him, and he caught it, heading towards the Slytherin goal posts-
Slam.
A bludger had slammed into his arm, and James dropped the Quaffle. Regulus Black, a fourth-year and Sirius's younger brother, swooped below and caught it. James sighed, roughly massaging his arm before taking off after Regulus.
This would be a long game.
X-X-X-X-X
Lily found her eyes picking out James again. Her sickness was abating a bit, and she could watch the players fly without feeling too nauseous. But it was becoming increasingly difficult to see the players.
"It's beginning to rain," complained Marlene, but she smiled when Lily magicked an umbrella over them. "Thanks, Lil." She sighed heavily. "It doesn't look like Cassie's spotted the Snitch yet, though…" Lily looked to their Seeker, and then here eyes flicked to James again. She had been watching him fly without actually watching to see if he – or anybody else – scored or not.
"What's the score?"
"Aren't you paying attention?" She sighed again. "Never mind. 80-60, Gryffindor."
"Oh, good."
"If Cassie doesn't catch the Snitch soon, though, Slytherin still might win." Lily didn't care. She was watching James again.
X-X-X-X-X
James flew around, waiting for Janine to pass the Quaffle – which she did, only not to him. James disliked not being the hero of the match, but he knew he had to let the other players score now and then. As he saw Benedict score and take a victory lap amidst the deafening cheers, James chanced a look at the around.
He sighed. The rain was pouring harder now; the match had been going on for over an hour. He'd nearly been hit by Bludgers four more times, nearly smacked with the Quaffle during a lapse of attention when Benedict had passed it to him, and…
He froze, and his hand jumped to his hair. Lily – Lily Evans – was watching him. Her eyes were boring straight into him, completely focused on him.
Well, that was a change. Look at me, think I'm sexy… come on, now, Evans, who can resist a Quidditch player?
As if she had noticed him watching her, though, she flushed and looked away, determinedly not looking at him. James smirked and waved in her direction, silently congratulating himself. Potter: 1. Evans: 0. The girls around her broke into cascades of giggles.
Reaching up, James rumpled his hair. "POTTER!" roared Damien, flying by. "Leave your bloody hair alone and pay attention!"
If at all possible while on a broomstick, James jumped and immediately concentrated on what he was supposed to be doing. He wished he knew what the score was, but Damien had already sped off, in hot pursuit of a Bludger heading for his sister. During a game, James rarely paid attention to the score. He spent his time scoring and passing – and thus had no idea what was going on around him. But, he figured, if they had been losing, Damien would be shouting at him. And aside from his call about James's hair, he hadn't shouted at James once. So it was safe to assume that they were winning.
James's eyes raked the field anxiously. A little ways off, Travers swooped around the pitch like a hawk, searching for the faintest glitter of gold. James frowned and took off towards him. Damien had given him specific orders not to let Travers anywhere near the Snitch, and that was what he was going to do. Besides, Benedict and Janine could carry the game on their own. James felt grouchy, not being able to score, so at one interval, he stole the pass – to Janine's chagrin, for it had been headed towards her – and scored. Janine shot him a hostile look, and he mournfully went back to blocking Travers.
At least that was fun – Travers regularly sent him very disgruntled looks. And as the match wore on, James swooped away – it wasn't like the Snitch was in sight, anyway – to do his job as a Chaser. And every time he scored, it was greeted by more cheers and applause.
X-X-X-X-X
One Hour Later"Now, I am sufficiently bored," confided Marlene. "The score's 120-120, neither of us is winning, and nobody's caught the Snitch yet. I might even take a nap."
Lily ignored her. She'd been unable to tear her eyes away from James the entire time – he was an amazing flier. The best she'd ever seen, actually. (Not that she'd seen many – at least, not without feeling dizzy and sick). She found herself wondering, vaguely, if James would ever become a Quidditch player when he graduated from Hogwarts.
Not that she'd care, of course. Oh, no.
"Lily, you've been watching Potter for over an hour. Give up." Lily's head snapped up – she stared at the young boy before her – Janine's youngest brother, Perseus, or Perry. He wrinkled his nose. "He's not going to notice you." Lily quickly glanced around, a flush rising in her cheeks, hoping nobody else had noticed her staring at James. "At least, not now," he amended. "Too busy concentrating. See? And – oh!" Perry shut his mouth as Cassie Barrington went into a straight dive, Travers hot on her trail. James whirled, dropping the Quaffle (Janine soared beneath to catch it, and in the time that the following events took place, scored eight times all on her own, as everybody was too busy watching the Seekers to pay attention to her or the Quaffle), and set off after Travers. Only this time, as opposed to the previous times when James had gone after Travers, something was different.
Travers held Antonin Dolohov's Beater's bat tightly in his hand.
Lily gasped.
X-X-X-X-X
James flattened himself against the broom. Travers' broom was faster than Cassie's, and already Travers was beginning to pass her.
He drew even with Cassie, passed her, and then drew even with Travers. "Come off it, Potter!" yelled Travers.
James shot him a mocking grin. "What? Planning to beat off Cassie with that Beater's bat? You're a coward, Travers! And that's illegal!"
Travers smirked. "Oh, don't worry. I'm not planning to hit her with it." And he slowed down marginally – Cassie swooped past him in a perfectly vertical dive – and then Travers bashed James's skull with the bat. James plummeted, dazedly hearing a collective gasp from around the stands and a furiously blowing whistle – he was no longer flying downwards, he was just falling…
CRUNCH.
What happened? James wondered dazedly. Ow. My head hurts. Actually, my everything hurts. Now hang on, why does everything hurt? Wasn't I chasing Travers?
He couldn't really remember.
He heard a lot of shouting around – and a thud very close to him. The next thing he knew, James was seeing his best friend bending over him, shouting something – but Sirius seemed very far away, and James had no idea what he was saying.
Yes, thought James. That's a problem. He looks very upset. I wonder why?
His vision was fading – where were his glasses? Right, they're on my face. How come I can't see? Everything's very… fuzzy… Did we win…?
"GRYFFINDOR WINS! Seeker Cassie Barrington catches the Snitch as Beater Damien Garnet and Chasers Benedict Rennet and Janine Garnet slam headlong in Travers, knocking him from the air… Madam Hooch does not call it, bless her soul… James Potter looks a bit dead; it would be a shame if he died; we'd have to get another Chaser…"
Oh, thanks a lot, Comforts, be more worried about the team than whether or not I'm dying… hang on, I'm not dying, am I? Because that would suck. At least we won, though. Can I sleep now? Sirius is looking very upset. Well, I'll find out what's wrong with him in the morning, then…X-X-X-X-X
A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! Thanks for the awesome reviews – much love to all of you! Peaches
Important Note: Yes, this chapter has been changed. I know James was originally the Seeker, but after some contemplation, I decided that I liked him better as a Chaser. So I changed this chapter.