Thank you very much for the reviews goddessofthemaan! They made my day. Here's chapter eight though you probably don't need any introduction.

Chapter eight

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Alice groaned.

Her and Lily were currently in the great hall eating breakfast. It was quiet in the hall as it was almost empty because it was still quite early in the day. Lily had tried her best, but had been unable to fall asleep once back in her own bed.

She took a sip pumpkin juice before answering Alice. "No, I'm serious."

Alice looked at her with a worried expression on her face.

"I'm fine now," Lily assured her. "Don't worry about it. But I just wanted to let you know about my new sleepwalking problem."

"You say you've never sleepwalked before?"

"Never."

"Hmm," Alice looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well I don't see how it could have just started up...Unless you're under a lot of stress," she added. "Are you under a lot of stress?"

"I don't think so," Lily shrugged and took a bite of sausage.

"Don't worry, we can put something on the door so you can't get out," Alice said.

They ate their breakfasts in silence for a few minutes before Amy joined them at the table.

"Hey Lily!" Amy said breathlessly as she sat down opposite her red haired friend. "Guess what?"

"What?" Lily asked, aware at how tense Alice had just gotten.

Amy grinned widely and Lily suddenly noticed her teeth were a much brighter white than usual. "I get to do the commentary today!"

"Did - did you whiten your teeth?"

It was Alice who spoke.

"Never you mind," Amy said not looking at Alice. "Isn't that great Lily!"

"Oh, ya, congratulations," Lily managed to stutter.

"You don't know anything about quidditch," Alice told her.

Amy turned to face her angrily, "For your information Alice, I happen to have studied all the moves and such before trying out for the team. Now if you'll excuse me," she got up from the table. "I'm going to podium so I can give my great commentary. So great the likes of which have never been achieved."

"The match isn't for another hour!" Lily called after her as Amy stormed off in the direction of the entrance hall. "And its freezing out there and - " she stopped as Amy disappeared from view and turned to Alice. "Well I tried."

"I wouldn't mind if she lost a few fingers to frostbite," Alice said bitterly.

"Look this is enough," Lily said tiredly. "Please just try and patch things up with her. Please, for me?"

"No. Sorry Lily, but its only over if she apologizes," Alice said stubbornly. "I think I'll go put something warmer on. You know, for the match. I'll see you later." She got up from the table and walked off, waving at Lily.

Lily waved back and then turned to her breakfast. It was only a few seconds before she felt someone else sit down next to her and she looked up to see who it was. She saw Dom grinning down at her. His hair looked very windswept and his nose cheeks were red from the cold. His teeth sparkled like diamonds which they had never really done before. Lily wondered what was with this new tooth whitening phase. Perhaps there was a sale of whitener down at Hogsmeade or something.

"Morning Dom," she smiled. "Were you just outside?"

"Yup," he smiled proudly. "Been practicing since the crack of dawn, at about six." He reached out and scooped some fried tomatoes onto his plate. "I've never been so excited! Look at my hand shaking!"

"Calm down, I'm sure you'll do fine," Lily said reassuringly.

"I'll only be happy if I win," Dom said, stuffing a piece of toast in his mouth. "Sorry if that means Gryffindor losing."

"Doesn't matter to me," said Lily before swallowing the last of her eggs. "I couldn't care less about quidditch."

"Could you care a little about it for me?"

Lily smiled, "Yes, alright." She leaned in towards his ear so no one else would hear what she was about to say next. "I hope Ravenclaw wins."

Dom beamed at her and kissed her on the lips.

The two stayed lip locked for a few seconds before Dom pulled back. "Well I'd love to stay here - I really would - but I have to get down to the pitch."

"Ya, alright. I'll see you after the match," Lily said and Dom gave her one last kiss on the cheek before heading off in the direction of the grounds.

Lily watched him go and turned away only when she felt a hard tapping on her left arm. She turned to see a small brown owl sitting there beside her plate.

Lily untied the parchment that was tied to its leg and unraveled the letter.

Dear Lily,

I was wondering if you would like to come

to my house after the game for lunch. I've got

something I want to discuss with you.

Cheers,

Hagrid

Wondering what on earth Hagrid wanted to talk to her about, Lily rolled the letter back up, stuffed it in her robes pocket, and quickly scribbled a reply saying she would be happy to come. The owl took off again and Lily went back to her breakfast.

"Lily!" cried a voice whose owner suddenly clapped Lily on the shoulder, catching her completely by surprise and causing her to choke on her pumpkin juice.

"S-Sirius? What!" Lily glared at him while reaching for a napkin so she could dab up some of the juice that had spilled onto the table.

"Code red!"

"Code red? What's red? We haven't made up any codes."

"Bridget's heading towards the owlery!"

Lily sat motionless for a second then leapt up suddenly, "Let's go."

Together the two of them sprinted down the aisle between tables and then hurried out the door in the direction of the owlery.

"How - long - ago - did - you - see - her?" Lily panted as they ran up some stairs.

"A - few - minutes - ago. She - was - just - leaving - the - great - hall - with - a - letter!"

Lily skidded to a halt. Sirius crashed into her and the two of them toppled into a suit of armor.

"Ow! Why'd you stop?"

"Because I doubt she's is heading to the owlery," Lily said, picking herself up painfully from the ground. "She was probably going back up to the common room to burn it or something."

"Well, would it hurt to check anyway?" Sirius asked, rubbing his elbow.

"Fine. Just watch where you're going next time," Lily said.

"Me? Watch where I was going? You - "

"Come on," Lily said, already starting to sprint again. "I don't want to be too late!"

She was too late. Bridget wasn't in or near the owlery. Lily immediately rushed over to the window and looked out, searching the skies for any owls.

"It looks like we're too late," Sirius said calmly.

"Thanks eagle eye."

"Come on. We should get back to the match. I can already hear cheering."

"Yeah," Lily turned away from the window. "Yeah, alright."

Lily walked down to the pitch with Sirius and then the two of them headed their separate ways. Sirius went to sit with Remus and Peter, while Lily went to go find Alice or Bridget.

She had no success in finding Alice, but managed to find Bridget, tangled up in a mess of Gryffindor supporters.

"Hi!" Lily had to scream to be overheard. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Where were you!" Bridget yelled back. "The match started fifteen minutes ago!"

"I had to get my cloak!" Lily lied quickly. "Have you seen Alice!"

Bridget pointed in front of them and Lily saw that in a few rows before them, was Alice, sitting with the one and only, Frank Longbottom.

"Aw, good for her!" Lily called to Bridget, smiling at her friend.

"'Bout time she and Amy made up!" Bridget said.

Lily sat down in one of the seats before continuing. "Do you really think she'll forgive her now?" There was no longer a need to yell as the screaming supporters had quietened down. No one was scoring any goals at the moment and the crowd watched breathlessly as the chasers battled for possession of the quaffle.

"I think she will. Trust me," Bridget said before pointing to the podium where Amy was standing, apparently supposed to be giving the commentary. "I don't think she's going to last long," Bridget commented.

Amy's mouth was wide open at the moment, but no sound was coming out. She was just gaping up at the sky, a look of astonishment on her face.

Lily looked up in the air too and saw what Amy was watching. Dom and James were both fighting for the quaffle. First it was James's, then Dom's, then James's, back to Dom, back to James... Until finally a bludger was hit in James's direction and Dom zoomed off with the large red ball. Lily could see a flash of his pearly white teeth glinting in the sunlight as he grinned.

He was flying fast towards the keepers goal until - Wham!

The crowd gasped as they saw James's barrel into Dom, causing him to stop his speed and freeze in mid air. There were loud boo's coming from the Ravenclaw supporter's as the quaffle slipped from Dom's grasp and was caught by Perry Lettors, another Gryffindor chaser.

Lily saw Dom's face turn cherry red, but she couldn't tell whether it was from embarrassment or anger.

"Come on! You can do it!" Bridget screamed in Lily's ear and one second later the crowd erupted in roars as Perry scored.

"Gryffindor leads - twenty to zero!" Professor Mcgonagall called into the megaphone she had snatched from Amy's limp grasp.

"S - sorry professor," Amy apologized, taking the megaphone back from her professor who had a look of impatience engraved on her face. "Must have dozed off. I won't let it happen again. You will let me continue doing this right? Because I just made a mistake and - "

"Thirty to Gryffindor!" Professor Mcgonagall had grabbed the megaphone once again.

Amy blushed and took it back, a look of determination on her face. "And the Ravenclaw keeper lost the quaffle and its falling to the ground, falling, still falling, and now some Ravenclaw player whose name I can't remember has caught it now and it looks like he's flying towards the ground for some reason, now he's coming back up. Am I doing a good now professor?"

"Thirty - ten!" Professor Mcgonagall barked into the megaphone.

Lily laughed and turned away from Amy.

The quaffle was now in James's position and he flew with incredible speed towards the Ravenclaw keeper.

"Ooh! Yes! Come on James!"Amy squealed into the megaphone while jumping up and down. She turned to face Mcgonagall who looked as though steam was about to come out of her ears. "I - I mean, Gryffindor keeper in possession of the quaffle and - oops, dodged a bludger there - and he scores!"

The crowd started screaming again and Lily had to cover her ears. She turned away from James who was doing some victory flips in the air and scanned the sky for Dom, who was near on of his goalpost's looking thoroughly unhappy.

"Don't just stay there Dom!" Lily cried. "Grab the quaffle!"

And as if he had heard her, Dom suddenly had come to his senses and moved towards the red ball. He caught it in the tips of his fingers and, with a great cheer, soared over to the Gryffindor goalposts.

But then Lily's eye caught another sight. Just a few feet below Dom, was the Gryffindor seeker Norah Freyel, in mid dive.

Lily's eyes fell a few more feet and she saw - surprisingly enough with a sprout of joy - a glint of gold hovering in the air.

The Gryffindor supporters screamed with glee and started spilling out of the bleachers towards the pitch to greet their team.Norah had caught the snitch. Gryffindor had won almost one second before Dom had gotten a chance to score his first goal on his first game.

Dom was not at all pleased.

"She couldn't have waited one damn second!" he yelled, spraying Lily with spit.

It was about fifteen minutes after the game and the two of them where sitting high up in the bleachers away from the now thinning crowd.

"It's alright," Lily said, stroking him gently on the arm. "She caught the snitch really early on in the game. I'm sure you would have scored something if it was longer."

He still looked disgruntled.

"I - er - I thought you flied really well," Lily said truthfully. "And you managed to steal the quaffle away from James Potter! He's been on the team since second year! I think you should be proud of yourself today."

Dom didn't say anything, but grunted slightly.

Lily watched him carefully.

Dom stood up suddenly. "Well I've got to go change. I'll see you at lunch."

"Oh, sorry, I'm having lunch with Hagrid," Lily apologized.

"Oh...alright. See you later then," and he walked down to the grounds, leaving Lily sitting alone.

She got up after a bit and walked down herself, heading in the direction of Hagrid's hut. She spotted a familiar individual heading towards there as well. It was easy to guess who the mop of messy black hair belonged to.

"James?"

James looked over his shoulder and grinned when he saw her. "Oh, hi Lily."

"Hi," Lily ran up to catch up with him. "Are you going to Hagrid's too?"

James nodded. "Ya, I got a note from him this morning saying he had something to talk to me about."

"Me too!" said Lily. "Only what could it be if it involves both of us?"

"Dunno," James shrugged as he knocked on the door of the hut three times. "So what did you think of the match?"

"I - "

"Ah, Lily, James! Ya made it! Come on in then!" Hagrid stepped back inside his hut and gestured for them to sit down at his table. "I made a casserole for ya two." He pointed at a plate covered in a mass of brown, purple goop.

James and Lily eyed each other nervously, but sat down anyway. Hagrid sat across from James.

"So, I have reason ta believe ya two were in the forbidden forest las' nigh,'"

"What!" James banged his hand on the table. "Never Hagrid. We know we're not supposed to go in there. Why do you accuse us of such petty misdeeds when you know we just have too much common sense to go in there? I thought you trusted us."

"Me? Trust a Potter? Never! An' anyway. Callas told me."

"Callas?" Lily inquired.

"One o' Aragog's children."

"Aragog?" James asked.

"My acromantula o' course!" Hagrid told them. "Callas told me ya two were in there last nigh' and squished out a few o' his eyes."

James instinctively pointed to Lily. Lily forced his hand down.

"Tha' poor creature was hangin' in the air when I found 'im."

"It was self defense!" Lily said defending herself. "And so was popping out a few of his eyes!"

"He tried to kill us!" said James. "Did he forget to tell you that part?"

"What are you doing with an apramantila as a pet?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Acromantula," James corrected.

"I love 'im!" Hagrid said angrily. "I raised 'im from a baby. He don' like it when 'is children are harmed an' left hangin' by some Hogwarts students."

"He - tried -to- kill -us," Lily said, trying her very best to make it clear.

"What were we have supposed to have done?" James questioned. "Just thought, 'oh, a giant spider. Must be one of Hagrid's pets, ok Lily, just lie on the ground and let him eat us ok? We don't want to cause any trouble.'"

"Ya shouldn't 'ave bin in the forest ta begin with!" Hagrid growled.

James didn't say anything.

"Sorry Hagrid..." Lily mumbled. "It was my idea to go in there in the first place..."

Hagrid looked at her sternly. "Well, I hope now ya kno' wha' happens to ya if ya wander in there withou' me."

"Yes Hagrid don't worry," Lily said quickly. "I've learned my lesson. I'll never go in there again. Not after that. And James won't either."

When James didn't reply she kicked him under the table.

"Ow! I mean - ya, I won't go in there either."

Hagrid continued to look at the two of them for a moment before grinning widely. "Ah, I can' stay mad a' you two! Come on," he piled the mound of casserole into generous portions onto three separate plates. "I'm starvin'!"

Lily picked at her food questionably.

"What's in here Hagrid?" James asked.

"Oh, a little o' this, a little o' tha'. Eat up, ya don' want it to get cold."

James poked his meal and it wiggled unpleasantly.

Lily looked away from his dish and back at hers. She suddenly remembered a little trick she used to use when she was a child to make it look as though she had eaten more than she really had and started swirling the glob of "food" around her plate.

"Lily you're not eating anythin'. Are you feelin' alrigh'?"

"Oh, no. I'm feeling fine...so far..." Lily looked up at Hagrid watching her worriedly and quickly stuffed a spoonful of the stuff in her mouth.

Like she had guessed, it was not a pleasant taste. It was like eating a large amount of orange and beef flavoured phlegm. Lily choked the slimy substance down.

"It's great Hagrid where do you come up with these recipes?" James said, swirling his food around so violently half of it was ending up off the plate and on the table, which, Lily guessed might have been what he originally intended to do.

It was the kettle that saved them.

It whistled a split second before Hagrid was about to ask James what on earth he was doing with his food.

"Oops, sorry. Kettle," and Hagrid rushed over to the stove.

James whipped out his wand and used a non-verbal form of evanesco on his food. He then turned to Lily and mimed asking her if she wanted the same done to hers.

Lily nodded feverishly and in a flick of a wand, her food vanished too.

"Ah, finished already?" Hagrid asked returning with a pot of tea. "Do ya wan' seconds?"

"No," said Lily and James in unison.

"We need to save some room for the party," James explained.

"Oh, righ'," Hagrid smiled. "Congratulations on winning."

James grinned. "Thanks."

"Well I won' keep ya," Hagrid said. "You two can run off now and enjoy the festivities."

"Thanks for inviting us over Hagrid," Lily said reaching for her coat.

"Yer welcom' Lily."

"Bye!" James called after him as he closed the door to Hagrid's hut. He turned to Lily, "Man, I don't want to hurt Hagrid's feelings, but his food actually tastes better as vomit."

"His cakes aren't bad," said Lily as they clambered down the stone steps leading down from Hagrid's hut and moved across the lawn. "He just needs to learn to soften them up a bit. Still, I think he can cook better than me."

"Never invite me over to dinner then."

Lily laughed. "I wouldn't worry about that, Potter."

James stopped walking. Lily stopped to and looked back at him, "What?"

"Nothing," James started walking again. "It's just you're using my surname again. I liked it better the other way."

"Oh..." Lily hadn't even noticed she had been doing that, but now that it had been pointed out to her, she didn't see how the change couldn't have been obvious to her.

James wrenched open the doors of the castle and Lily stepped inside.

"I hope we didn't miss the party," Lily said.

"I doubt it," James replied, walking up some stairs. "I think it'll last all day. Hey, sorry about ramming into your boyfriend during the game."

Lily shrugged. "You had to do it right? To win. I have to tell you I thought I'd be cheering for him, but I actually felt like I wanted Gryffindor to win..."

"We may make a Quidditch fan of you yet. Poltergeist," James told the Fat Lady and she smiled and swung open, admitting them in.

They were greeted with huge amounts of cheering. Sirius ran up and dragged James over to the drinks. Lily was greeted enthusiastically by Alice.

"I did it! I had a whole conversation with him!" she squealed breathlessly.

"With Frank you mean?"

Alice nodded. "Take that Amy!"

"Take what exactly?"

Amy had just joined the two of them. Alice blushed. "Nothing..."

Amy gave Alice a look of curiousity before rounding on Lily.

"What?" Lily asked, wondering what she could have possibly done to cause Amy toglare at her so viciously.

"Oh nothing!" Amy said waving her arms about, slightly hysterical. "Its just I've noticed you've been spending quite a lot of time lately with my boyfriend!"

Lily was too bewildered for a second to say anything. Her and James? Did Amy actually think there was the tiniest possibility that there was something going on between them?

"Amy you're being ridiculous!" Lily said while Alice's eyes darted between her two friends curiously. "There is nothing you need to worry about."

"Oh don't give me that!" Amy snapped. "Did you perhaps forget about Dom? Your boyfriend? Did you even think about our friendship before doing this to me!"

"Amy! There is nothing going on between him and me!" Lily shouted, trying to make herself clear. "And there never will be! Don't you trust me!"

"I don't know, with what you're doing with Bridget I think I've lost all trust in you."

"Amy - "

"Listen you do whatever you want, but don't think I won't do my best to stop it," Amy said dangerously, eyes narrowed. "I can make your life very miserable."

"Amy I would never do that to you!"

"Forget it Evans. If you don't want to fess up you don't have to. Just know I'll be watching," and with those final words Amy turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd.

Lily started after her with her mouth hanging open.

"Lily?"

Lily turned around to see Bridget standing beside her.

"I brought you some butterbeer and - " Bridget saw Lily and Alice exchange glances. "What's going on?"

"Had a fight with Amy," Lily said taking the butterbeer out of Bridget's hand. "And thanks."

"Oh not you too," Bridget said angrily.

"Amy's just being an idiot right now," Lily said fiercely. "I'm going to the dormitory to do some homework." And she stormed off, leaving Alice to explain to Bridget exactly what had happened.

As always review! (and I know Hagrid's accent isn't 100 right, but its the best I could do without closely examining it in the books.)