Chapter XX
Gryffindor Versus Ravenclaw
((James's POV))
The end of May was steadily approaching… as was the match against Ravenclaw.
Ravenclaw was said to have the best team in the school; they were leading Gryffindor by thirty points. Kirke kept bobbing around, giving people information, as usual. Finally Sirius charmed his mouth shut for a whole day.
At last, the game was only an hour away.
Lily was lounging in the entrance hall when I came down, smiling at me.
"Hey," she said, kissing me. "You ready?"
I nodded. "Ravenclaw's Seeker is the best on the team, you know."
"Not as good as you," Lily muttered against my lips; I could feel her grin.
"And you won't get mad at me after this game?" I asked. "It is tradition, after all."
She laughed. "I can't make any promises. 'S long as another girl isn't jumping into your arms after you win, I'll be fine."
"You know you're the only one I love, Lily," I said. She closed her eyes as I rubbed my forehead against hers.
"Potter!" Kirke said, rushing forward. "Sorry, Evans, but he needs breakfast…"
"That's fine," she said, allowing me to be dragged away.
I didn't really listen to any of Kirke's speeches as he dragged me through the Great Hall for breakfast and then down to the changing rooms before the match. I was sure that the team and I had heard the whole thing in different words at least ten times.
I had to admit that I was a little nervous. There never was much of a chance of any other teams beating Gryffindor in past years (not to brag). As I dressed and stood in line by the door before we were called out, I just imagined Lily's face shining out among the others', her lips against mine, and her green eyes shining and giving me hope that I had more in this world than Quidditch.
And that made me look at the game differently.
It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. When we flew out to be greeted by cheers from about half the field, and boos from the other half, I was still heartened by seeing the Gryffindor banner that I knew Lily was holding part of…
"And they're off!" shouted the commentator. "Quaffle is on Ravenclaw's side, Taggert in possession—passes it to Morley, and oh! Scored! Stop trying to wipe that bit of dirt off your broom handle, Ravenwood!" I suppressed a laugh. "Gryffindor in possession—can't see who that is with the Quaffle, sorry—and they miss the goal hoop! All right, Ravenclaw again, Dabbs with the Quaffle dogdes a Bluger from Gryffindor Captain Kirke—passes to Taggert, and oh! Score again!"
By the time Gryffindor had made one goal hoop, Ravenclaw had forty points. After that, neither team was able to score for about twenty minutes. I assumed Ravenclaw had lost some strength, but they were still blocking our swift moves, not allowing us to score.
Eventually Ravenclaw scored twice, once because Ravenwood wasn't paying a bit of attention because most of the action was going on at the Ravenclaw end, and he was taken by surprise when Morley scored from fifty feet away. Kirke was then so angry that he aimed a Bludger at him even though the Quaffle was then at the other end of the field. Ravenclaw received a penalty shot, and they made it.
Kirke was crying. I could tell.
I searched the field for the Snitch, but it was so difficult to find, despite the sunny May weather. In sunny Mary weather, everything is shiny, so a person couldn't tell the Snitch from a glitter off of somebody's watch. The other seeker had constant vigilance, however, as we often almost bumped into each other as we circled the field looking for it. He was very polite about it, however.
The Gryffindors were beginning to despair. I knew they were all counting on me, and I felt bad about not having seen anything yet. However, we held the Ravenclaws from scoring anymore, and once when I passed the Gryffindor stands looking for the Snitch, I heard Lily call after me, "You'll find it, I promise!"
Lily was wrong about a lot of things, however. She might have been very smart and everything, but sometimes she really didn't know what she was talking about. Just a few days before, she had asked me if Kirke was out of the Hospital Wing yet. I responded by telling her that he was never in the Hospital Wing in the first place, and that he was just faking it when he fell off his broom at Quidditch practice. Lily seemed very surprised.
Anyway, back to the game.
As I was searching, I noticed a change of mood in the other Seeker. He had stopped flying the way he was, and he seemed to just be drifting around near the ground. When I stopped to watch, I noticed that the Snitch was only about half the stadium away from him. He was flying slowly so I wouldn't suspect anything; he knew my broom was faster and that I could get there.
I accelerated downward, eyes planted hungrily on it. The whole crowd had gasped, and then all was silent. Both teams were watching as the other Seeker realized what I was doing, and then he sped up. The commentator was even being quiet. All was still.
And then it seemed to fly right into my hand.
There was an explosion of sound; people were screaming and leaving their seats to flood out onto the field as both teams lowered themselves. Kirke was crying again, this time out of happiness. We carefully lowered ourselves, all clinging to one another. I didn't get a chance to touch down; hands had found me and were holding me up above the others; the gleaming silver Cup had found itself in my hands. I could see McGonagall on the verge of tears, Dumbledore clapping enthusiastically, Sirius, Remus, and Peter running out to greet me with shining faces, and Lily.
Lily was there. I let myself be lowered to the ground by the carriers, and for a moment we were just staring at one another. It seemed quiet, as if time was stopped and it was only us. And then she jumped into my arms, kissing me, speaking gibberish that I somehow understood. I let her sit on my shoulders, and I carried her back into the castle. She was holding the Cup high for everyone to see, screaming, "He's my boyfriend! He's my boyfriend!" Sirius was laughing his head off, and other people were carrying the whole team. I led the group back into the castle, forgetting my troubles.
It was then that I was sure that there had never been a happier moment in my life.
A/N: Yay! An update! I am really sorry guys, but the beginning of school is always really hectic, so there you have it. But now it's sort of calming down, so I'll be able to update more.
Anyway, I had the most fun writing this chapter. I know it's short (duh! I'm writing it!), but I just...I dunno. I like it.
So see below if I wrote something nice to you. If not, it doesn't mean I don't like you, because I love all of you, but I just don't have time. Okay, I do have time, but I'm LAZY. Every time I get a new message from "FF Review Alert" I always want to get up and dance. And I read all of them.
Oh, last thing I ate: cake. Notice how I eat lots of fattening foods. Good thing I play volleyball, right?
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Bri007: Yeah, he'd have to call me moldy log too. I have brown hair and green eyes. Isn't brown such a typical hair color?
Kacijo12: I keep hearing that phrase. "kudos for you." Is that going around or did you make it up? Because if you made it up, I must know you from Live Journal or something…
Just because I said so.: I don't really have any opinion on carrots, seeing as I haven't eaten one in forever (I'm still in orthodontics, unfortunately).
Queen of Duct Tape: Hah, their wedding? I was thinking of doing a chapter on that, so we'll see…
Chelles: Thanks for all of the reviews! It really helps my confidence, because now I can talk to any of my friends that are writing fics and say, "You only have a hundred reviews? I have one hundred twenty-one! Hah, beat that, suckers!"
hpluvas: OH MY GOSH ME TOO:p
AllIWannaDo: Love love love your review. Love it. Absolutely. Anyway, I AM inside Lily's head. We're so much alike, it's just…wow. Except I don't have some super fine guy begging me to go out with him. Yeah, my mom has green eyes and my dad has brown. My older sister Erin got the brown eyes. I actually think it doesn't depend on the color to have pretty eyes, so I'm sure yours are fine. Thank you SO MUCH for the review. I really appreciate being told I'm a great writer, because I'm going to write a book one of these days, and it's best to do so with confidence.