-
The seven students climbed out of the train and into the waiting row boats. They walked down the expanse of the great hall to stop in front of a mangled old hat. To everyone's delight, all of them were sorted into Gryffindor. The new boys and girls of Gryffindor sat down at the table and ate their fill.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lily's first year passed quickly. She studied hard and went to every quidditch game in hopes of learning something new for when she tried out next year. She laughed with her friends and yelled right along with them at the Marauders, which was the name the four boys gave themselves. Their soul purpose in life was to prank the entire populace of the school. The boy's favorite victims of course was the three Gryffindor girls, much to Lily, Lucy, and Jenn's consternation.
Soon, though, it was time to go home. Everyone could be found in their dorms, packing for the summer. The girls got a compartment on the train all to themselves. They said their goodbyes at the platform, and Lily met up with Ty as she passed through the barrier to see her parents.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All during the summer, Lily balanced flying and doing farm work. Poll's second baby was due soon. Merlin was strong and healthy. Soon Lily would have her own little flock. Ty helped her a lot with her and by the end of the summer, Ty was sure she would get a spot on the team as a chaser. Lily was surprised that the summer was almost over. She had been so busy practicing till her butt was sore from the broom handle, she had almost forgot the reason she was training so hard.
But soon she was making her way through the barrier and onto the train to meet her friends. She couldn't wait until she could try out for the team!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The day of the team tryouts, Lily was sitting at breakfast when the mail owls swooped through the windows. Three owls came in with a odd shaped package. They landed in front of Lily and her friends, knocking over jugs of pumpkin juice and landing in a plate of bacon. One dropped a note from its beak then all three flew off again. The bigger owl grabbed a piece of toast in his beak before taking flight after the others.
Lily stared at the package along with everyone else in the hall. "Open it," whispered Lucy. Lily nodded her head, and untied the knots around the package. Underneath the crumpled brown paper lay a brand new broomstick. A Cosmo 600, the latest model. Jenn opened the letter that one of the owls dropped while Lily lovingly stroked the smooth handle. She had a broom all her own! And just in time for tryouts!
"Thought you might like this for today, Love Ty." read Jenn. Everyone in the hall gaped in awe at the latest model.
"Lets take it out for a test run, Lily, before tryouts," said Lucy. Jenn and Lucy, being purebloods, were well acquainted with the ways of quidditch, but neither of them were as good a flyer as Lily. Lily was the only one going to try out, though.
Lily grabbed the broom and raced out into the entrance hall, out through the oak doors, and onto the grounds. A small crowd followed the girls, including the Marauders: James and Sirius were planning on trying out for the team too, James for one of the chaser positions and Sirius for the open beater position. They wanted to see if the broom flew as well as it was rumored to be. Lily stopped and mounted the broom. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She positioned her legs, ready for the take off. She heaved upward with her legs and rocketed into the sky.
The wind whistled in her ears and whipped her hair. She pulled the smooth mahogany handle upwards so she was ascending into the sky with the broom perpendicular to the sky. She urged it faster and faster, until she felt she would burst. Higher and higher until she couldn't see the crowd that had grown beneath her. Finally she stopped and floated in the air, a couple hundred feet in the air. Her breathing was ragged from lack of oxygen in the high atmosphere.
She enjoyed the view that was provided to her by her high altitude. She looked down and decided to join the earthly beings down below. She once again pointed the broom tip perpendicular with the ground, only this time she was flying downwards, and she was flying faster in her descent with the pull of gravity. The sensation that was rippling through her body was better than anything she had ever experienced. Even better than the day she had found out she was a witch, better than the first time she had ever flown on Ty's broom, which was a toy compared to the thing she was riding now.
She was drawing ever closer to the earth, but she didn't want to pull up, she never wanted this ride to end. She wanted to stay in the air forever, with just her and her broom. But these thoughts flew out of her head as she was getting closer and closer. She pulled up and swerved around a mighty pine tree, twenty feet above the ground. She heard a collective gasp from some in the audience. She flew over the lake, the wind that blew a crossed it was strong, it almost knocked her off course. She turned around and headed back to her friends. She landed softly and slung her broom over her shoulder. Her eyes were wide with child-like excitement, and her hair was a mass of deep coppery red tangles. She stepped with wobbly legs toward her friends, who met her in the middle.
"So?" asked Jenn, excited for her friend.
Lily opened her mouth to speak, but she could find no words that could describe the way she felt. " It… it… was a dream," she whispered. she blinked her eyes a couple of times before offering the broom in front of her, "Who's next?" she asked her friends.
"No, Lily, It's yours, we don't want to ride it," said Lucy, a happy smile on her face.
"Speak for yourself," called James Potter as he pushed himself through the crowd, followed by Sirius and Remus. Lily whipped around at his voice and clutched her new baby tightly in her hands.
"James, it's hers. She doesn't have to let you ride it." said Remus. Lucy hit her cousin on the back of the head.
"Maybe I will let you ride it after tryouts," said Lily. James looked at her with a mixture of shock and excitement. "But, you have to promise not to prank anyone in the school ever again."
James mouth dropped open in shock. "How about I don't prank you for a week?" he tried to compromise.
Lily almost laughed at the absurdity of the question, " How about you don't prank me or my friends ever again? And that is my final offer."
James tapped his chin with a single finger, his mouth was set in concentration. He stuck out his hand, "Deal," he replied.
"Can I ride it, Lily? Sirius asked.
" What would you give me?" Lily asked back.
"How about I give you a kiss?" he replied with a smile. James hit him on the head with a closed fist. Sirius knew James had a small crush on Lily.
"It's almost time for tryouts," said Jenn. The three second years that were going to try out headed to the pitch with broomsticks over their shoulders, although James and Sirius's brooms weren't the latest model, Lily noted a little smugly. Peter, Lucy, Jenn, and Remus headed over to watch from the stands. Remus took a seat next to Jenn and they started a boring conversation about their newest assignment for History of Magic class. Lucy watched the try outs avidly while Peter sat quietly and chewed his nails to the quick, bored out of his mind.