A/N: I cannot believe how long it has been since I updated! I'm so sorry to anyone who was legitimately interested in this story. I promise it will not happen again, well I'll try anyway. Thanks to amrawo and PyrateGirl for the reviews. Enjoy the chapter.

Quidditch and Darkness

Quidditch trials were soon upon the Gryffindors. Early Saturday morning James was on the pitch with Sirius standing next to him. This year James would play Seeker, although he had been playing Chaser for the past four years that he had been on the team. Sirius as usual would be Beater along with Summer Zeller and Miles Bradley would continue playing Chaser.

Lily and Rachel had gotten up early to support Cerise in her bid to join the Gryffindor team. They weren't the only ones. It seemed that the majority of Gryffindor House along with Professor McGonagall had come to the try outs. There were also various members of other houses, scooping out the competition. Gryffindor House had been the dominant power for the last four years and it seemed that they were only getting better.

"So what positions are available?" Lily who admittedly wasn't a huge Quidditch fan asked.

"Well Kirke was Chaser last year and he graduated. Bell was Seeker and he also graduated last year along with the Keeper Olivia Wood. James has switched to Seeker, which means there are two Chaser positions and the Keeper available," Rachel answered.

"Why don't you try out?" Lily asked.

"I know the facts but put me in the air and I'm useless," Rachel responded.

Lily nodded in understanding. She knew the theory behind flying but in the air she just couldn't put it into practise.

The crowd had settled down as James got all of the contenders to do a lap around the Quidditch pitch. A third of the group couldn't do that and were immediately eliminated.

Once this was done they were split into two groups, those trying out for Chaser and those who wanted to be Keeper. The Keeper contenders were tried one by one. Each was put against a potential Chaser who had five shots to put through the hoops. It was a round robin tournament and by the end James was able to pick the three people who would fit well with the team.

He blew a whistle indicating the end of try outs. He thanked those who had tried out and indicated for the team to gather in a group.

"Well I've got the three I think are best but I want your opinions too," James said.

"As long as at least one of them is a girl I'm fine," Summer smiled.

Sirius grinned "let's hope so."

James gave his friend an exasperated look "I'm going to post the new team next Saturday after the Hogsmeade weekend. I was thinking Davey Gudgeon as Keeper and Renee Spinnet and Cerise Lavergne as Chasers."

The rest of the team nodded in agreement. They left soon afterwards, heading back to the Gryffindor common room.

The week past slowly but it was finally Friday. It was the end of September and autumn was in full swing. Fireplaces were constantly kept alight and the student's uniforms now consisted of scarves, gloves and in the girl's cases tights or stockings. Homework was being given in abundance and the library was a common place for all of the seventh years to be found.

The last class for the day was Potions, where they were all reminded of Professor Slughorn's Slug Club party that night. As soon as they were dismissed the girls headed to the library to finish homework that they would have done that night. Saturday was the first Hogsmeade weekend and they wanted to get any homework out of the way so that they could enjoy themselves.

Instead of going to dinner the girls went upstairs and dressed for the party. Once they were ready the girls went downstairs where the Marauders were waiting. All seven made their way to the classroom that Professor Slughorn had selected.

It was quite noisy, with music playing in the background. People were dancing and talking, genuinely having a good time. The Professor greeted them jovially but was soon distracted by the new arrivals.

Sirius seized his chance by asking Cerise to dance. She agreed before either Rachel of Lily could stop her. James was chatting adamantly with Rachel about his favourite subject – Quidditch – with Peter occasionally joining in. Lily spent much of her time talking to Remus, who was looking quite pale. The rest of the night was spent in much the same way, Sirius and Cerise frequently coming over to chat before they would again dance.

The party came to a close at about one o'clock that morning. Rachel and Lily swooped in to bring Cerise back to their dormitory. Sirius pouted but knew there was no way he could get past those two. James just shook his head at his friend's actions and led the way for the three boys to follow him to bed.

The next day they all got up rather late. They did hurry themselves so they could get to Hogsmeade. The girls decided that they would be in the Three Broomsticks and the boys did their usual thing in Zonkos.

At the Three Broomsticks the girls discussed the party, or rather Rachel and Lily grilled Cerise on what happened with Sirius.

"He tried to kiss me but I wouldn't let him. I think he got frustrated," was Cerise's replied.

Rachel grinned. "Sirius does enjoy a challenge."

"Well I won't be anyone's one night stand. If he wants to get laid he'll have to get it somewhere else," Cerise stated.

"Good for you," Lily said.

Wrapped in scarfs and gloves the three girls walked out of the Three Broomsticks, heading towards the Shrieking Shack on the edge of town. Cerise had heard all about it and was eager to see it. They got to within a few metres when Lily stopped them.

"We'd better be careful, it is pretty far out of town," Lily warned.

"We'll be fine," Rachel reassured her.

"We need to be careful nowadays. The Daily Prophet has been reporting murders of the magical community every week," Lily warned.

"I know and I am worried, but whoever is doing this wouldn't be stupid enough to come near Hogwarts," Rachel reasoned.

"Don't be so sure," Cerise said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" the two girls turned to face Cerise.

Cerise merely pointed at a figure standing near the Shrieking Shack. He was clothed in black, with a hood covering his identity. Having seen the three girls he raised his wand, preparing a curse. The girls ducked for cover, each bringing out their respective wands.

Rachel looked up from the tree that she and Lily had taken cover behind. It seemed that this person, whoever they were was only interested in Cerise. Luckily for her, every curse seemed to suddenly fly in another direction. Lily looked at Rachel and silently lifted her wand. Rachel imitated her and as both started to initiate a curse the mysterious figure disapparated.

The two girls ran over to Cerise. She looked fine, though slightly pale and shaky.

"Are you alright?" Lily asked concerned.

Cerise nodded as Rachel and Lily helped her up, heading back to the castle.

"We should go to Dumbledore," Rachel said as Lily silently agreed.

Cerise merely nodded as they approached the entrance doors. The three Gryffindors headed to Professor Dumbledore's office, Lily being Head Girl had the password. The spiral steps began to ascend and soon they found themselves at the open door.

Dumbledore looked up at their approach, seemingly not surprised by their appearance. He gestured for the three girls to take a seat in front of his desk.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Some hooded guy attacked us. Well attacked Cerise actually," Rachel explained.

Dumbledore turned his penetrating gaze towards Cerise, "is this true Miss Lavergne?"

Cerise nodded, "I was able to avoid being hit Sir."

"It was dumb luck Sir. Those curse looked like they were going to hit her for sure and they suddenly veered off course," Lily stated.

Dumbledore nodded, his blue eyes sparkling as he looked at Cerise.

"Who was he Sir?" Rachel asked.

Dumbledore turned to look at her, "they call themselves Death Eaters."

A/N: If anyone has any ideas they want to put forth let me know. There is a plot but I think I need to add little events to make it seem fuller.

CrazyLikeaFox