A/N: I'm on chapter twenty!! *does celebratory dance around her living room*

DISCLAIMER: JK owns it all, and I'm not going to claim to own her things on her birthday …

Chapter 20(!): ROAR!!!!

James was flying around the Quidditch pitch, trying to get the Quidditch Cup from Professor McGonagall … he caught up with her and attempted to wrestle it from her grasp, and then gave up and decided to Transfigure her into a feather instead, but Lily hovered between them and swept James into a hug … he pushed her out of the way and she fell towards the ground, calling his name …

"James, help! James, James …"

"James!" someone hissed. He opened his eyes to see Lena sitting on the edge of his bed, dressed in her Quidditch robes and holding her broom. He sat up quickly, reaching for his glasses, as Remus came out of the bathroom, bleary eyed and also dressed for Quidditch.

"What time is it?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh, it's early," Lena assured him. "You haven't slept late or anything."

"Then what—" he started.

"Let's go for a throw around before breakfast," Lena suggested.

"Before break—what time is it?" he asked as Lena headed over to Sirius' bed.

"You don't want to know, mate," Remus told him, stifling a yawn. James grabbed his watch.

"Half past bloody five?" he asked incredulously. Lena grinned and kissed Sirius on the nose. His eyes shot open immediately, and his lips curled into a smile.

"Morning," he whispered, kissing her nose in return. "Is it late?" She shook her head.

"It's bloody dawn," James grumbled, rummaging in his trunk.

"We're going to go for a bit of a fly," Lena told him. "Coming?" Sirius nodded and sat up. James stood up, clutching his robes.

"I'm in the bathroom first," he said, storming into the room and closing the door. Sirius chuckled and lay back down. Lena flopped down beside him.

"Are you not nervous, Lena?" Remus asked.

"A bit," she admitted. "But I can't wait to get out there, either."

"Do you remember your first game?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded.

"Fourth year. I couldn't eat for a week afterwards," he said, smiling reminiscently. Sirius looked at Lena, who was grinning broadly. He leaned in to give her a quick kiss, but it ended up lasting until James came out of the bathroom.

"When you're finished," James said rather rudely, though he looked in a better mood than before.

A half an hour later, they were on their way to the pitch, where James and Remus became fully awake within seconds. It was a hazy morning, but as they played the sky cleared to a dazzling blue.

"That wasn't a bad idea," James said as they headed back to the castle, rosy cheeked.

"Thanks for the compliment," Lena said sarcastically. "So, how do you feel about our chances?"

"Pretty confident," he replied. "I mean, with my talent, how could we loose?"

"True," Lena remarked. "How long have you been on the team now? Three years? And we've won the cup how many times since then? Oh yeah … none."

"Yeah, and you missed about three goals back there, with Sirius Keeping," Remus pointed out. Sirius looked almost as insulted as James.

"No offense, Siri, but Beating is your forte," Lena went on, ruffling his hair. He flattened it stubbornly, and James looked on in envy as it remained flat.  They entered the Great Hall, and were waved over to join the other team members.

"Were you lot out already?" Shay asked. Lena nodded.

"Excellent conditions," she informed him, grabbing some toast hungrily.

"How long were you out for?" Rachel asked.

"About an hour and a half," Remus answered.

"An hour and—but it's only eight!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Oh, is it?" Remus asked, glancing at his watch. "Then two hours."

"You've been up since six?" Derek asked.

"Lena woke us all up at half five," Sirius told them.

"I would've called you lot, but I didn't think you'd appreciate it," Lena explained.

"Glad to know you didn't care whether or not we minded," James muttered. Lena smiled brightly.

"You were out flying already?"  Lily asked from behind them. Lena nodded again.

"Are you nervous?" Ally asked her.

"Not especially," she replied. "I don't know why …"

"You know you're going to be excellent," Kim said.  Lena stared at her friends as if something was missing.

"Where's the banners?" she asked. "The scarves, hats, the team colours?"

"Yeah," Sirius said. "Where's your house loyalty?" Ally merely made a face.

"Well, I'll just have to put more of an effort in myself," Lena said, taking out her wand and tapping each of her plaits in turn. One turned scarlet, the other gold. "There," she said proudly. "It'll wear off in a few hours, but it should last through the game." Sirius grinned as he fingered her hair.

"Gorgeous," he said. "Are you ready to head to the changing rooms?"  The team nodded, and suddenly the entire table came down to wish them luck.

"Good luck," Lily said, beating the rush and hugging Lena. She met James' eyes for a brief second. "You too," she mouthed, unnoticed by everyone else. He winked at her.

As the seven departed to continued cries of "Good luck!", Lily Ally and Kim hurried to the nearest bathroom …

*****

Lena smiled as they waited to go onto the pitch … she was going to win this game.

"Ok?" James asked her. She nodded. Sirius hugged her and planted a kiss on her lips. James coughed loudly.

"Yes?" Lena asked sweetly.

"Well, I was just wondering whether you two would give it a rest long enough to play the game," James said, not noticing the faces Sirius was pulling behind his back. "Ok, we've got a good team, we all know that. I think it's about time we let Ravenclaw know." The team grinned. James looked around, the noise of the crowd becoming louder. "Well, what are we waiting for, then?" he asked, and they headed onto the field.

"Look!" Sirius shouted, pointing to the Gryffindor end of the pitch. Lily, Ally and Kim were covered in red and gold hats, scarves and gloves. They were holding a gigantic scarlet banner, probably made by Kim, which bore a gold lion and simply said 'ROAR!!' in huge golden lettering.

"Captains, shake hands," Madame Hooch instructed, and James and Ritchie obeyed. Sirius fingered his bat longingly as Ritchie's eyes darted to Lena.

"Mount your brooms."

Sirius shook himself and threw his leg over his broom. Lena shot him a grateful look as she did the same … the whistle blew and Lena darted forwards to grab the Quaffle. She succeeded, and tore towards the Ravenclaw goals, outstripping Ritchie and scoring before he was even in the scoring area. The crowd was in shock.

"And White scores … just two seconds into the game!! What an excellent debut for her," the commentator, a fifth year Hufflepuff named Ludo Bagman was saying, "and anyway, Ritchie, Ravenclaw Keeper has finally reached the hoops, and he isn't looking very happy at all … he throws the ball to Wiggins of Ravenclaw, but here comes Potter, dodging a Bludger sent by Pilchard, good Beating there, just not good enough … Potter wins possession for Gryffindor, and is passing to White … Lupin … Potter again … Lupin – and another score! Blimey, they're good!"

Lily gaped. Two scores already?? They were working seamlessly, they appeared to be reading each other's minds … and they were flying so fast!

" … And now Kingsdown of Ravenclaw has taken the Quaffle and is heading for the Gryffindor end … along comes White …"

Lena flew alongside her, initiating the move her mother had taught her … She grinned broadly as she changed direction minutes later, clutching the Quaffle. She passed it to Remus. She winked at Sirius as he batted a Bludger away from James, who was in the process of scoring another goal.

The Ravenclaw team was in shock. This was unbelievable …

"… and Ravenclaw in possession again, but can they keep it? ...looks promising, but can Given save it? … and it's an excellent save by Gryffindor, score remains thirty-nothing …"

After an hour, Gryffindor's lead had risen to 100. In desperation, Ravenclaw called a time out. James landed, grinning. Sirius laughed as he touched the ground.

"Loved that last score, Moony," he congratulated.  Remus smiled modestly.

"Right, just keep going the way we've been playing, I suppose," James said. "Oh, Rachel, you're going to have to keep an eye out for the snitch, I have a feeling they'll be looking for a quick finish." Rachel nodded.

James was right. Salthair, the Ravenclaw seeker, scanned the field relentlessly, and Rachel followed him. Soon, however, Gryffindor were leading by 160 points, despite the opposing Chasers snatching a few goals.

The Gryffindor crowd was growing steadily more hoarse as the goals rolled in, but the cheers were, if anything, getting louder. James, Remus and Lena were oblivious to all the noise and darted around with looks of deep concentration on their faces ...they always seemed to be thinking about four moves ahead of everyone else. After three hours, Salthair captured the snitch, but as Gryffindor were ahead by 270 points at the time, it didn't matter much.

The Chasers landed together, grinning broadly, Lena throwing her Gryffindor plaits behind her shoulder.

"Well done, boys," she said.

"And you," James nodded. Sirius landed and swept Lena into a gigantic hug.

"Wow! You lot were fantastic!" he exclaimed. He turned to James and Remus, who backed away, grinning.

"It's ok, we don't need a hug," Remus said jokingly.

"Pity, I was going to offer," chirped Kim from behind him. "How in the name of Merlin did you manage to score 31 goals?"

"It's easy," James said. "Throw the red ball through the hoops. Hardly Transubstantial Transfiguration. Though that doesn't sound difficult, either …"

"Three Porskoff Ploys!" Frank exclaimed.

"Yeah, we really should have done that more," Lena said.

"And that faking-thingy!" Lily said. "That was brilliant!"

"We weren't the only ones in the air," Remus reminded them. "There was excellent Beating going on, aswell, since after ten minutes all Bludgers were aimed at us." Sirius and Derek took a bow.

"And Rachel – you held Salthair away from the Snitch for three hour – well done," Sirius said. Lena wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I'd like to say, you've all seen how wonderful Lena is – well, I discovered her." Lena hit him playfully.

"Party!" someone called from the crowd, and the team members were hoisted onto the shoulders of the crowd and carried back up to the castle.

*****

Lena thought she must have been complimented by every member of Gryffindor Tower that night. Lovely as it was to have her ego fed, she was glad when she finally cornered Sirius and they escaped to their little room. He was glad, too, and wasted no time in showing her exactly how happy he was.

"I'd like to congratulate you, too," Lena said once things had calmed down.

"Why?"

"You only hit three Bludgers at Ritchie and two of them were strategic," she explained. Sirius grinned.

"Thank you," he said, pulling her close again.

Lily was just as anxious to see James alone, and slipped him a note discreetly. He opened it once she'd gone …

Meet me in the usual place as soon as possible!

He grinned and made excuses. As soon as he entered the room, Lily flung herself at him.

"What was that?" he asked, dazed, a few minutes later.

"You were amazing," was her only reply before she attacked him again. James recovered faster this time …

"Wow, I should play Quidditch more often," he said a while later.

"I agree," Lily said, grinning. James was quite taken aback by her ferocity, he wasn't aware that she had it in her. And he had an even bigger surprise in store that night when he was dressing for bed. As he dried his face, he noticed three rather purple-looking marks at the bottom of his neck.

"Evans!" he exclaimed under his breath, touching them gingerly.

"C'mon, Prongs, you must be finished taking your make-up off by now," Sirius joked, walking over to the open door. His jaw dropped.

"Ahhh …," he said. "Moony told me you'd disappeared tonight," he went on. "Who's the vampire, then?" James willed himself not to blush, that would arise more suspicion. He tried to act nonchalant.

"Never mind," he said, pushing past Sirius and heading to his bed.

"Well, it's hardly a Ravenclaw," Sirius pressed, "they won't talk to you for at least a month."

"Who's hardly a Ravenclaw?" Remus asked.

"The girl who's taking lumps out of Prongs."

"What?" Peter asked.

"He's got these marks on his neck," Sirius explained. "They look pretty fresh, too."

"Really?" Remus asked. "Is that where you were before?"

"None of your business," James said, pulling back his covers.
"You've been sneaking off a lot lately," Sirius remarked. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"So what if I have?" James said.

"Well, it'd be nice if we knew who she was," Remus said.
"You're pretty sure I have one," James said.

"What else have you been doing?" Sirius reasoned. "I can't believe I didn't realize sooner. What year is she in?"

"I don't want to talk about it," James said.

"Ooh, she's older than you!" Sirius guessed. "She's finished school." James sighed. It would be easier just to go along with it.

"Yeah," he said.

"Ha!" Sirius exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew it! You've been sneaking out to Hogsmeade to see her, haven't you?" James nodded.

"What's her name?" Remus asked. Jams grasped around his brain for one …

"Linda," he said.

"Well, what age is she?" Sirius asked.

"Goodnight, Sirius," James replied, pulling his hangings closed.

"Goodnight, James," Sirius said sweetly. "Sweet dreams."

The next morning, James pulled Lily into an empty classroom.

"Hello," she said. "How is the star Chaser this morning?"

"A bit scared of his girlfriend," James replied, pulling the collar of his robes down so she could see the marks that had grown worse overnight. Lily gasped. "Yeah," he said. "You're vicious, aren't you?"

You weren't complaining at the time," she reminded him, smiling.

"Sirius saw them," he told her. Her smile vanished.

"What did you say?"

"I made up a girlfriend in Hogsmeade," he said. "Well, Sirius did, and I went along with it. So if you hear anything about someone called Linda, it's not true."

"Linda was the best you could come up with?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah," he said, mildly offended. "I was trying to think of a name, and I thought of Paul, and …" Lily smiled.

"Well, go on to breakfast," she said. "Do you want to arise even more suspicion?" James was about to point out that no one would suspect a thing if it wasn't for her, but she had already pushed him out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A/N: Not the longest of chapters, but I have to go to my grandparent's tonight, they're arriving home form New Jersey tomorrow morning, (with my US version of OoP!!) and I have to stay overnight to see them, so this is all I have time to type.  Our aunt in America (who just had an adorable baby boy named Bryan) sent us the first three books, US versions, so we want to get them all with those gorgeous US covers … So much nicer than the English ones, don't you think? Anyway, we have the UK version aswell; because we weren't waiting this long to get the book … it was tough enough waiting until 8am when our nearest bookshop opened!

Before I forget …

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday JK and Harry!!

Happy Birthday to You!

Or, as the Beatles say:

You say it's your birthday,

Well it's my birthday too,

You say it's your birthday,

Happy Birthday to you!!

(It's not my birthday, that was just the song. My birthday's not 'till October.)

Review!! And leave your email, if you'd like me to let you know when the next chapter's up …