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Ljstagflower4e/Jctigerwolf4e, LimeJuiceTub and miabubble for their
insightful reviews. I can't tell you guys how much I appreciate them!
Please continue to review and give me your insights!
Without further delay..Chapter 6!
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Chapter 6: Quidditch Try-outs
Lily was sent to the hospital wing under protest. She knew that she was all right and felt silly running to Madame Pomfrey for a headache. If she didn't have an entourage of friends walking with her, to make sure she actually went, she would have skivied off to somewhere else. But secretly she felt relieved when Madame Pomfrey said it was a mild concussion and made her drink some green liquid that tasted like puréed sardines.
As James returned to the common room later that night, the sick feelings in his stomach subsided as Lily came in. His mind kept replaying the images of Lily being blast through the air and crumpling as she hit the wall. Each time he thought of it, his stomach turned a little more. He could have with out a doubt, killed Bellatrix right there in that room if anything serious had happened to her. James wished desperately that they had patrolling duties together tonight so he could talk to her, but tonight was one of their few nights off of Head duties all together.
"So James, Saturday is the big day. Who do you think will try out?" asked Sirius as he leaned back in his chair and casually twirled his wand with his left hand. The table was piled with parchment and books, but neither James, Sirius nor Peter felt like studying much. Remus was on patrolling duty tonight. He would head straight to the hospital wing afterwards to prepare for his transformation on Saturday night.
"Huh?" said James as he turned his head away from Lily, who half lying on the couch by the fire talking and listening to music with Faith and Liz.
"You are absolutely hopeless Prongs, do you know that?" Sirius shook his head. "Here I'm talking about the future of our team, and you are too busy staring at Evans."
"I am not," said James as he too leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest and grinning at his best friend. "This is a good song and I just wasn't listening to your senseless babble." Peter laughed and followed suit by leaning back in his chair, copying James and Sirius.
"Sure," Sirius snorted. "Well as I was saying, who you do think is going to try out on Saturday?" James looked around at the semi-empty common room. He hated to admit it, but he didn't see anyone that he thought would halfway fill the shoes of the graduated Quidditch players.
"It's going to be hard to fill the positions. Longbottom, Prewett and Sterling were irreplaceable. Our only hope is that there are some talented second, third or fourth years that we don't know about," said James with a furrowed brow.
"Well I don't want to lose the Cup to the Slytherins. We just got it back," Peter chimed in. James nodded in agreement. A song with heavy guitar suddenly blared from the radio, filling the common room. The boys and several other students turned towards the girls by the radio.
"What is that?" a third year boy at a near by tables asked his fellow tablemates. Some shook their heads, while other's cast the girls' annoyed looks and yelled for them to turn it down.
"Come over here and make me, midgets," said Faith casually as she continued to talk to her friends, not touching the radio.
"Well I just can't wait for Saturday night," announced Sirius, turning his attention away from the girls. "It's been too bloody long since I was able to stretch my legs." James nodded his head in agreement.
"Well just remember Padfoot, that your legs need to stay around the Forest and not wandering around Hogsmeade. We don't want another close call like last year." James said referring to the incident where they got too close to town and had to save an older woman from almost becoming a werewolf.
"Yeah I know," Sirius sighed and continued, "Relax mate, you are too uptight these days. Anyway, did you see that Hogsmeade is next weekend?" said Sirius as he casually switched the subject. Peter looked at the announcement board, as if he just noticed it was there.
"Uh-huh. Good thing too, I need to get some supplies from Zonko's." James smiled. Sirius gave him a knowingly, mischievous grin.
"That reminds me.." but Sirius was cut off as Lily, Faith and Liz sauntered by their table, towards their dorm. "Good night ladies," he called at them. The three girls rolled their eyes in unison and continued to carry on with their conversation as they climbed the stairs for the evening. James felt his stomach leap as Lily walked past him and gave him a small sideways glance, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned.
"Women" Peter mumbled as he began to gather up his books.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Friday came and went without much excitement. Lily was glad to see her first week of seventh year pass into a memory. She hoped that the rest of the year would be less eventful, but somehow she knew that it was wishful thinking. Bellatrix's little stunt had spread throughout the school like wildfire. Of course this was due to the bragging of the Slytherins and Bellatrix herself. Although most of the school sympathized with Lily, they did little to discourage the flow of gossip. That day Lily held her head high when she found herself being taunted by various grade levels of Slytherins. Faith, however, was less tolerant of their taunting and decided to keep Madame Pomfrey rather busy by sending at least a dozen Slytherins up to visit her.
That night the girls relaxed in their dorm room instead of the common room. It was a little more private and much quieter than the common room, where James and Sirius decided to practice throwing the quaffle around the room. After nearly having their heads taken off several times, they decided to give up their places by the fire and head upstairs.
"Come on Faith, you know that you want to try out for the beater position," said Liz as she polished her broomstick. Lily laughed at Liz's attempts. She had been trying to convince Faith to try out all night. Faith looked up from her book and sighed.
"Liz, for crying out loud! For the last time, I'm not trying out! I haven't been on a broomstick in nearly two years and I'm positively awful at Quidditch." Faith looked back down at her book.
"Oh you big liar! You were on a broomstick last year right before we left remember? We used them to sneak out and go on the other side of the lake," reminded Lily. Faith shot her a sarcastic "thank you" look. Lily couldn't help but smile as she turned back to her parchment.
"Oh that's right!" Liz squealed, her eyes lighting up at the forgotten memory. "Faith I know that you would be good at beater! Come on, please!" Liz threw her broomstick aside and hopped off her bed and ran over to Faith. She knelt down on the floor in front of Faith's bed and folded her hands together in a pleading ball. "Please, please, please, please, please, please, pllleeeasssee Faith!" Faith, realizing it was hopeless, let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Alright, I'll try out! Just stop begging. You're making a damn fool of yourself." Liz leapt up on the bed and hugged Faith, letting out a huge scream. "But I'm warning you now, if Sirius Black makes one advance on me I'm knocking off that fat head of his. Merlin knows it's a big enough target," Faith sighed, hugging her friend. Lily laughed at her two best friends. She knew that Faith secretly wanted to play since she started Hogwarts.
"What are you laughing at, Miss Chaser?" Faith grinned maliciously at Lily. Liz's face lit up as she spotted her new target for recruitment.
"If you think that I'm going to get up on a broomstick, on the same field as James Potter, you both have gone mad," Lily stated. "I spend enough time with that toerag as it is and I would like what little free time I have, not to be spent with him." An evil grin spread over Liz's face.
"Well that's too bad cause he is really something to look at in the locker room when his shirt is off." Faith collapsed into laughter as Lily threw her pillow at Liz and hit her square in the forehead. She shook her head in mock disgust, while the corners of her mouth twitched for a moment as a vision of a shirtless, sweaty James Potter played before her eyes.
'What am I thinking!' Lily mentally shook herself of the thought and immediately felt disgusted at herself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
James and Sirius woke very early Saturday morning in anticipation of Quidditch try-outs. Both boys, and most of Hogwarts male population, agreed that no matter how tired or loaded with homework they were, there was always time for Quidditch. James and Sirius made no attempt to stifle their enthusiasm for the upcoming day as they made a loud production of showering, dressing and eating. Gryffindor's try-outs were scheduled from twelve to two in the afternoon. James and Sirius had spent the morning polishing their brooms, going over new strategies and placing bets on who will try-out.
At eleven-thirty, they made their way down to the field. The Ravenclaw try- outs were just finishing as they approached. Taking a seat in the stands, the boys analyzed the Ravenclaw prospects.
"They don't look bad this year," said James with a furrowed brow. Sirius nodded his head in agreement.
"I just hope that our try-out talent is half of what theirs is, or we are definitely going to be out of the running for the Cup," commented Sirius as a brown-haired Ravenclaw girl scored a goal and flew past them, giving them a wink and a flirtatious smile.
"Nice shot Bayles!" called Sirius with a matching flirtatious smile. "She doesn't look to bad this year, eh Prongs." Sirius gave him a nudge with his elbow.
"You would know," said James without much thought. James had become accustom to Sirius and his never-ending pursuit of the opposite sex. James heard the whistle blow from the field and the Ravenclaws walked to the showers. James and Sirius abandoned their seats from the stands and flew down to the field. Slowly the Gryffindor prospects made their way down to the field from the castle. As some of the players began to warm up, James caught a flash of red hair in the distance. Lily Evans was walking towards the field accompanied by her two friends. James heart skipped a beat as she made her way over to the field. He strode over to the girls, clipboard in hand and held his head high in the air.
"Ah Corentine! I wondered when you were going to get here," greeted James in his most mature voice. A hand shot up to his hair as he glanced at Lily.
"Don't give me that nonsense, we are on time. Anyway, I did some recruiting for you, Potter," Liz smirked as she looked at a slightly tense Faith who was surveying the field of her competitors.
"So Ravenwood, you finally decided to try-out and become a member of my team," smirked James. Faith looked him square in the eye.
"No Potter, I came out to join the Gryffindor team," said Faith coldly. "Last time I checked it was called Gryffindor, not Potter. So Captain, where do I start warming up?" James gave her an approving nod and a confident grin.
"I like your attitude Ravenwood, no-nonsense and right down to business. Liz will show you what to do before we get started."
"Good luck!" Lily called as Liz and Faith walked over towards the three posts, brooms in hand and began to stretch. James turned to her, running another hand up to his hair.
"What about you Evans?" said James in his mature voice.
"What about me, Potter?" replied Lily, as she looked him straight in the face. She realized how much she hated him when he was around anything that had to do with Quidditch. Arrogance just radiated out of him, and it irritated Lily to no end.
"Aren't you going to try out? I need several positions filled and you seem like you would be quite capable of filling them," James grinned as he cocked his head to one side. Lily let out an audible sigh.
"Potter, why would I voluntarily try to fill a position that you have open?" said Lily with an inquiring look on her face.
"Because you would like to help out your Head Boy." James moved a little closer to Lily. She could smell his cologne and mentally scolded herself for thinking that it smelled appealing.
"I'm just here for moral support for Faith and Liz. Sorry to disappoint you, Potter."
"Then how about a kiss for luck love," James leaned in a little closer. Lily let out a disgusted groan and hit him on the arm.
"Hey be careful! That's my scoring arm! You could damage it," laughed James as Lily faced turned red.
"The only thing I wish I could damage is that monstrosity that is your ego!" huffed Lily as she turned and headed towards the stands.
"Oy James! Aren't we going to get started!" called Sirius from the middle of the field. James tried not to let himself become disappointed as he turned towards the group of try-outs. Giving his hair one last ruffle, he strode over to the middle of the field with his remaining teammates.
Lily settled herself down in the Gryffindor stands. She couldn't believe the nerve of James. Just when she began to think that he was somewhat human, he turns back into an arrogant jerk.
'Well just think, if you kissed him he could turn from the frog into a prince,' thought Lily as she watched James take charge and separate the players into groups. She watched him strut around the field as he talked to the groups and gave orders.
'That would have to be one hell of a kiss," Lily snorted and began to look for Faith and Liz. Liz was leading the potential chasers in drills in the air. Some of them didn't look too bad. Faith was on the ground with the beater group, which was being overseen by Sirius.
After about an hour, Lily began to wish that she brought a book or something to do. She fully supported her friends and her house Quidditch team, but unless you are the one trying out it was rather boring to watch. Lily was contemplating running up the castle for a book when James voice sounded through out the stadium.
"Alright everyone! We are going to play a mock game of Quidditch! First team on the left! Second team on the right!" Immediately players flew to their respective sides. James and the rest of the original team flew to the stands across from Lily and took a seat to observe the players. Liz released the quaffle in the middle of the field and began circling the stadium as the referee. Lily kept her eye on Faith as she and a boy named David Donavan hit the bludger around the stadium.
Team Two threw the quaffle back and forth, heading towards the goals. Faith flew in front of the keeper and hit a bludger straight at the chaser with the quaffle, causing him to panic and drop it into the waiting hands of her teammate.
"GOOD JOB FAITH!" screamed Lily as Faith flew by her and gave her the thumbs up.
After several mock games, the try-outs were over. James's voice once again boomed through out the stadium as he told the players that the results would be posted later this evening and it was time to hit the showers. Lily climbed down from the stands and walked over to Liz and Faith who were discussing something in the middle of the field.
"Faith you did fantastic!" greeted Lily as she meet up with the two girls. Liz beamed at Faith.
"She sure did!" said Liz as she clasped Faith on the back.
"I did alright, for my first time at Quidditch," said Faith with a small smile as she flung her broom over her shoulder. "Come on. Let's get up to the castle so I can get this dirt off of me."
"Good job today Ravenwood!" called Sirius who was standing next to James and several other team members in a circle. Faith smiled at him and turned to Liz. Lily glanced at James who was examining his clipboard with a furrowed brow. James looked up and over at the girls. He was very sweaty and his hair was messier than usual. Lily noticed that his t-shirt clung to his body in all the right places.
'He is really something to look at in the locker room when his shirt is off,' Liz's voice replayed in her mind. Despite her intentions Lily smiled at him. James felt his heart lighten as he gave her a charming grin. Lily mentally shook herself and headed back up to the castle.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
During dinner, the talk at every table was about the Quidditch try- outs. Some students were very confident while others seemed more nervous about their performance. James was becoming very annoyed as several Gryffindors tried to pump him for information about who was going to be chosen. Finally giving up on having a nice dinner, he and Sirius and Peter headed up to the tower to post the list.
"I don't care if I make it," said Faith taking a sip of her juice.
"Oh don't bloody lie," insisted Liz as she picked the onions off of her pizza. "You know that you care and that you would be disappointed if you didn't make it."
"Well Faith if you don't make it, I'll hex Potter the next time we have patrolling duty together on your behalf," offered Lily.
"Lils, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever offered to do for me," said Faith with a hint of sarcastic sweetness. Faith leaned in towards Lily and Liz. "But seriously, I was thinking.."
"Oh that is never a good sign!" giggled Liz as Faith gave her a sarcastic smile.
"Anyway..tonight would be the perfect night to sneak out for a bit." Faith's eyes twinkled and a mischievous smile lit up her face.
"Sounds good to me," said Liz as she and Faith turned to look at Lily.
"Well, I don' t know guys. I mean I'm head girl now. I'm suppose to be setting an example," said Lily. Liz's face dropped and Faith sighed.
"Well it didn't stop you last six years, and even the last two when you were a prefect. Come on Lils, stop the responsible act and just say yes already." Faith and Liz looked intently at her. Lily thought to herself for a minute.
"Well, I do deserve a little bit of fun after everything that has happened this week," said Lily slowly. Liz squealed and leaned in closer.
"Alright, here's my idea," said Faith as she motioned them closer.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
James, Sirius and Peter sat in their dorm room on Peter's bed. James was making his final choices for the open quidditch positions.
"We need a seeker and not one person that tried out could effectively do it," said James looking frustrated. "I mean, I think Adley could do it, but he is only a fourth year and too young and inexperienced. He would get rattled to easily when we play Slytherin."
"What about Zelter?" questioned Sirius looking at the list.
"I think she would make a better chaser than seeker," said James crossing out what he had just written and throwing down his pencil. "I have about five potential chasers, but no seeker." James closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
"What if you played seeker James?" asked Peter nervously. James and Sirius both looked at him with blank expressions. "I mean, you've always had good reflexes with the snitch. It seems to make sense to me." Peter finished meekly, looking down at the paper.
"I think Wormtail has a good point Prongs," grinned Sirius.
"Wormtail you are bloody brilliant!" exclaimed James. "Why didn't I think of that before?" James scrawled the names of his final choices onto a clean piece of parchment.
"Excellent!" he got up and ran out of the room, down the boys dormitory stairs and over to the bulletin board. He stuck the paper right in the middle and a crowd of eager students huddled around it. With in moments the common room was filled with a mixture of cried of happiness and groans of disappointment.
Faith, Lily and Liz entered the common room and were amazed at the noise and commotion filling the room.
"What the hell is all of this?" said Faith as a fifth year boy pushed past her screaming in happiness and dove into his friends, who were seated on one of the couches near the fire.
"Looks like the final quidditch choices are posted," said Lily as a fourth year girl turned from the board in tears. Her friend immediately hugged her.
"Come on Faith!" Liz tugged on her arm sleeve leading her towards the board. Lily could see the nervousness in Faith's face as she read the names. Suddenly Faith turned towards Lily and Liz.
"I MADE IT!" she screamed, throwing her hands up in the air and Liz immediately hugged her. The two girls jumped up and down for a moment, before gaining their composure.
"Excellent!" said Lily as she hugged her best friend.
"I can't freaking believe it!" gushed Faith. "I didn't think I was good enough. I thought that Marrow was twice as good as me!" Lily glanced over Liz's shoulder to see a satisfied looking James and Sirius. Lily had a feeling that James had a little bit of influence in his decision making, but she did not want to ruin Faith's moment.
"We are definitely going to have to celebrate tonight!" said Liz with a sly grin. The three girls dashed up to their dormitories in preparation for their plan.
After answering a few questions to disappointed housemates, James and Sirius and Peter tramped up the stairs back to their room.
"Padfoot, I hope you realize that I may have sealed your fate by putting Ravenwood as your partner," said James as he walked over to his trunk.
"Why do you say that?" asked Sirius as he plopped down on his bed and casually lead against the headboard.
"Oh no reason other than she'll probably hit more bludgers at you than the other team," said James as he pulled out a silvery cloak.
"Well either way I'll have her attention now, won't I?" grinned Sirius as he folded his hands behind his head to make himself more comfortable.
"You are a very ill man, Padfoot," said James shaking his head in mock disgust. "Now get off your arse and take out the map. Moony is waiting."
Don't forget to review!!
Without further delay..Chapter 6!
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Chapter 6: Quidditch Try-outs
Lily was sent to the hospital wing under protest. She knew that she was all right and felt silly running to Madame Pomfrey for a headache. If she didn't have an entourage of friends walking with her, to make sure she actually went, she would have skivied off to somewhere else. But secretly she felt relieved when Madame Pomfrey said it was a mild concussion and made her drink some green liquid that tasted like puréed sardines.
As James returned to the common room later that night, the sick feelings in his stomach subsided as Lily came in. His mind kept replaying the images of Lily being blast through the air and crumpling as she hit the wall. Each time he thought of it, his stomach turned a little more. He could have with out a doubt, killed Bellatrix right there in that room if anything serious had happened to her. James wished desperately that they had patrolling duties together tonight so he could talk to her, but tonight was one of their few nights off of Head duties all together.
"So James, Saturday is the big day. Who do you think will try out?" asked Sirius as he leaned back in his chair and casually twirled his wand with his left hand. The table was piled with parchment and books, but neither James, Sirius nor Peter felt like studying much. Remus was on patrolling duty tonight. He would head straight to the hospital wing afterwards to prepare for his transformation on Saturday night.
"Huh?" said James as he turned his head away from Lily, who half lying on the couch by the fire talking and listening to music with Faith and Liz.
"You are absolutely hopeless Prongs, do you know that?" Sirius shook his head. "Here I'm talking about the future of our team, and you are too busy staring at Evans."
"I am not," said James as he too leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest and grinning at his best friend. "This is a good song and I just wasn't listening to your senseless babble." Peter laughed and followed suit by leaning back in his chair, copying James and Sirius.
"Sure," Sirius snorted. "Well as I was saying, who you do think is going to try out on Saturday?" James looked around at the semi-empty common room. He hated to admit it, but he didn't see anyone that he thought would halfway fill the shoes of the graduated Quidditch players.
"It's going to be hard to fill the positions. Longbottom, Prewett and Sterling were irreplaceable. Our only hope is that there are some talented second, third or fourth years that we don't know about," said James with a furrowed brow.
"Well I don't want to lose the Cup to the Slytherins. We just got it back," Peter chimed in. James nodded in agreement. A song with heavy guitar suddenly blared from the radio, filling the common room. The boys and several other students turned towards the girls by the radio.
"What is that?" a third year boy at a near by tables asked his fellow tablemates. Some shook their heads, while other's cast the girls' annoyed looks and yelled for them to turn it down.
"Come over here and make me, midgets," said Faith casually as she continued to talk to her friends, not touching the radio.
"Well I just can't wait for Saturday night," announced Sirius, turning his attention away from the girls. "It's been too bloody long since I was able to stretch my legs." James nodded his head in agreement.
"Well just remember Padfoot, that your legs need to stay around the Forest and not wandering around Hogsmeade. We don't want another close call like last year." James said referring to the incident where they got too close to town and had to save an older woman from almost becoming a werewolf.
"Yeah I know," Sirius sighed and continued, "Relax mate, you are too uptight these days. Anyway, did you see that Hogsmeade is next weekend?" said Sirius as he casually switched the subject. Peter looked at the announcement board, as if he just noticed it was there.
"Uh-huh. Good thing too, I need to get some supplies from Zonko's." James smiled. Sirius gave him a knowingly, mischievous grin.
"That reminds me.." but Sirius was cut off as Lily, Faith and Liz sauntered by their table, towards their dorm. "Good night ladies," he called at them. The three girls rolled their eyes in unison and continued to carry on with their conversation as they climbed the stairs for the evening. James felt his stomach leap as Lily walked past him and gave him a small sideways glance, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned.
"Women" Peter mumbled as he began to gather up his books.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Friday came and went without much excitement. Lily was glad to see her first week of seventh year pass into a memory. She hoped that the rest of the year would be less eventful, but somehow she knew that it was wishful thinking. Bellatrix's little stunt had spread throughout the school like wildfire. Of course this was due to the bragging of the Slytherins and Bellatrix herself. Although most of the school sympathized with Lily, they did little to discourage the flow of gossip. That day Lily held her head high when she found herself being taunted by various grade levels of Slytherins. Faith, however, was less tolerant of their taunting and decided to keep Madame Pomfrey rather busy by sending at least a dozen Slytherins up to visit her.
That night the girls relaxed in their dorm room instead of the common room. It was a little more private and much quieter than the common room, where James and Sirius decided to practice throwing the quaffle around the room. After nearly having their heads taken off several times, they decided to give up their places by the fire and head upstairs.
"Come on Faith, you know that you want to try out for the beater position," said Liz as she polished her broomstick. Lily laughed at Liz's attempts. She had been trying to convince Faith to try out all night. Faith looked up from her book and sighed.
"Liz, for crying out loud! For the last time, I'm not trying out! I haven't been on a broomstick in nearly two years and I'm positively awful at Quidditch." Faith looked back down at her book.
"Oh you big liar! You were on a broomstick last year right before we left remember? We used them to sneak out and go on the other side of the lake," reminded Lily. Faith shot her a sarcastic "thank you" look. Lily couldn't help but smile as she turned back to her parchment.
"Oh that's right!" Liz squealed, her eyes lighting up at the forgotten memory. "Faith I know that you would be good at beater! Come on, please!" Liz threw her broomstick aside and hopped off her bed and ran over to Faith. She knelt down on the floor in front of Faith's bed and folded her hands together in a pleading ball. "Please, please, please, please, please, please, pllleeeasssee Faith!" Faith, realizing it was hopeless, let out a huge sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Alright, I'll try out! Just stop begging. You're making a damn fool of yourself." Liz leapt up on the bed and hugged Faith, letting out a huge scream. "But I'm warning you now, if Sirius Black makes one advance on me I'm knocking off that fat head of his. Merlin knows it's a big enough target," Faith sighed, hugging her friend. Lily laughed at her two best friends. She knew that Faith secretly wanted to play since she started Hogwarts.
"What are you laughing at, Miss Chaser?" Faith grinned maliciously at Lily. Liz's face lit up as she spotted her new target for recruitment.
"If you think that I'm going to get up on a broomstick, on the same field as James Potter, you both have gone mad," Lily stated. "I spend enough time with that toerag as it is and I would like what little free time I have, not to be spent with him." An evil grin spread over Liz's face.
"Well that's too bad cause he is really something to look at in the locker room when his shirt is off." Faith collapsed into laughter as Lily threw her pillow at Liz and hit her square in the forehead. She shook her head in mock disgust, while the corners of her mouth twitched for a moment as a vision of a shirtless, sweaty James Potter played before her eyes.
'What am I thinking!' Lily mentally shook herself of the thought and immediately felt disgusted at herself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
James and Sirius woke very early Saturday morning in anticipation of Quidditch try-outs. Both boys, and most of Hogwarts male population, agreed that no matter how tired or loaded with homework they were, there was always time for Quidditch. James and Sirius made no attempt to stifle their enthusiasm for the upcoming day as they made a loud production of showering, dressing and eating. Gryffindor's try-outs were scheduled from twelve to two in the afternoon. James and Sirius had spent the morning polishing their brooms, going over new strategies and placing bets on who will try-out.
At eleven-thirty, they made their way down to the field. The Ravenclaw try- outs were just finishing as they approached. Taking a seat in the stands, the boys analyzed the Ravenclaw prospects.
"They don't look bad this year," said James with a furrowed brow. Sirius nodded his head in agreement.
"I just hope that our try-out talent is half of what theirs is, or we are definitely going to be out of the running for the Cup," commented Sirius as a brown-haired Ravenclaw girl scored a goal and flew past them, giving them a wink and a flirtatious smile.
"Nice shot Bayles!" called Sirius with a matching flirtatious smile. "She doesn't look to bad this year, eh Prongs." Sirius gave him a nudge with his elbow.
"You would know," said James without much thought. James had become accustom to Sirius and his never-ending pursuit of the opposite sex. James heard the whistle blow from the field and the Ravenclaws walked to the showers. James and Sirius abandoned their seats from the stands and flew down to the field. Slowly the Gryffindor prospects made their way down to the field from the castle. As some of the players began to warm up, James caught a flash of red hair in the distance. Lily Evans was walking towards the field accompanied by her two friends. James heart skipped a beat as she made her way over to the field. He strode over to the girls, clipboard in hand and held his head high in the air.
"Ah Corentine! I wondered when you were going to get here," greeted James in his most mature voice. A hand shot up to his hair as he glanced at Lily.
"Don't give me that nonsense, we are on time. Anyway, I did some recruiting for you, Potter," Liz smirked as she looked at a slightly tense Faith who was surveying the field of her competitors.
"So Ravenwood, you finally decided to try-out and become a member of my team," smirked James. Faith looked him square in the eye.
"No Potter, I came out to join the Gryffindor team," said Faith coldly. "Last time I checked it was called Gryffindor, not Potter. So Captain, where do I start warming up?" James gave her an approving nod and a confident grin.
"I like your attitude Ravenwood, no-nonsense and right down to business. Liz will show you what to do before we get started."
"Good luck!" Lily called as Liz and Faith walked over towards the three posts, brooms in hand and began to stretch. James turned to her, running another hand up to his hair.
"What about you Evans?" said James in his mature voice.
"What about me, Potter?" replied Lily, as she looked him straight in the face. She realized how much she hated him when he was around anything that had to do with Quidditch. Arrogance just radiated out of him, and it irritated Lily to no end.
"Aren't you going to try out? I need several positions filled and you seem like you would be quite capable of filling them," James grinned as he cocked his head to one side. Lily let out an audible sigh.
"Potter, why would I voluntarily try to fill a position that you have open?" said Lily with an inquiring look on her face.
"Because you would like to help out your Head Boy." James moved a little closer to Lily. She could smell his cologne and mentally scolded herself for thinking that it smelled appealing.
"I'm just here for moral support for Faith and Liz. Sorry to disappoint you, Potter."
"Then how about a kiss for luck love," James leaned in a little closer. Lily let out a disgusted groan and hit him on the arm.
"Hey be careful! That's my scoring arm! You could damage it," laughed James as Lily faced turned red.
"The only thing I wish I could damage is that monstrosity that is your ego!" huffed Lily as she turned and headed towards the stands.
"Oy James! Aren't we going to get started!" called Sirius from the middle of the field. James tried not to let himself become disappointed as he turned towards the group of try-outs. Giving his hair one last ruffle, he strode over to the middle of the field with his remaining teammates.
Lily settled herself down in the Gryffindor stands. She couldn't believe the nerve of James. Just when she began to think that he was somewhat human, he turns back into an arrogant jerk.
'Well just think, if you kissed him he could turn from the frog into a prince,' thought Lily as she watched James take charge and separate the players into groups. She watched him strut around the field as he talked to the groups and gave orders.
'That would have to be one hell of a kiss," Lily snorted and began to look for Faith and Liz. Liz was leading the potential chasers in drills in the air. Some of them didn't look too bad. Faith was on the ground with the beater group, which was being overseen by Sirius.
After about an hour, Lily began to wish that she brought a book or something to do. She fully supported her friends and her house Quidditch team, but unless you are the one trying out it was rather boring to watch. Lily was contemplating running up the castle for a book when James voice sounded through out the stadium.
"Alright everyone! We are going to play a mock game of Quidditch! First team on the left! Second team on the right!" Immediately players flew to their respective sides. James and the rest of the original team flew to the stands across from Lily and took a seat to observe the players. Liz released the quaffle in the middle of the field and began circling the stadium as the referee. Lily kept her eye on Faith as she and a boy named David Donavan hit the bludger around the stadium.
Team Two threw the quaffle back and forth, heading towards the goals. Faith flew in front of the keeper and hit a bludger straight at the chaser with the quaffle, causing him to panic and drop it into the waiting hands of her teammate.
"GOOD JOB FAITH!" screamed Lily as Faith flew by her and gave her the thumbs up.
After several mock games, the try-outs were over. James's voice once again boomed through out the stadium as he told the players that the results would be posted later this evening and it was time to hit the showers. Lily climbed down from the stands and walked over to Liz and Faith who were discussing something in the middle of the field.
"Faith you did fantastic!" greeted Lily as she meet up with the two girls. Liz beamed at Faith.
"She sure did!" said Liz as she clasped Faith on the back.
"I did alright, for my first time at Quidditch," said Faith with a small smile as she flung her broom over her shoulder. "Come on. Let's get up to the castle so I can get this dirt off of me."
"Good job today Ravenwood!" called Sirius who was standing next to James and several other team members in a circle. Faith smiled at him and turned to Liz. Lily glanced at James who was examining his clipboard with a furrowed brow. James looked up and over at the girls. He was very sweaty and his hair was messier than usual. Lily noticed that his t-shirt clung to his body in all the right places.
'He is really something to look at in the locker room when his shirt is off,' Liz's voice replayed in her mind. Despite her intentions Lily smiled at him. James felt his heart lighten as he gave her a charming grin. Lily mentally shook herself and headed back up to the castle.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
During dinner, the talk at every table was about the Quidditch try- outs. Some students were very confident while others seemed more nervous about their performance. James was becoming very annoyed as several Gryffindors tried to pump him for information about who was going to be chosen. Finally giving up on having a nice dinner, he and Sirius and Peter headed up to the tower to post the list.
"I don't care if I make it," said Faith taking a sip of her juice.
"Oh don't bloody lie," insisted Liz as she picked the onions off of her pizza. "You know that you care and that you would be disappointed if you didn't make it."
"Well Faith if you don't make it, I'll hex Potter the next time we have patrolling duty together on your behalf," offered Lily.
"Lils, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever offered to do for me," said Faith with a hint of sarcastic sweetness. Faith leaned in towards Lily and Liz. "But seriously, I was thinking.."
"Oh that is never a good sign!" giggled Liz as Faith gave her a sarcastic smile.
"Anyway..tonight would be the perfect night to sneak out for a bit." Faith's eyes twinkled and a mischievous smile lit up her face.
"Sounds good to me," said Liz as she and Faith turned to look at Lily.
"Well, I don' t know guys. I mean I'm head girl now. I'm suppose to be setting an example," said Lily. Liz's face dropped and Faith sighed.
"Well it didn't stop you last six years, and even the last two when you were a prefect. Come on Lils, stop the responsible act and just say yes already." Faith and Liz looked intently at her. Lily thought to herself for a minute.
"Well, I do deserve a little bit of fun after everything that has happened this week," said Lily slowly. Liz squealed and leaned in closer.
"Alright, here's my idea," said Faith as she motioned them closer.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
James, Sirius and Peter sat in their dorm room on Peter's bed. James was making his final choices for the open quidditch positions.
"We need a seeker and not one person that tried out could effectively do it," said James looking frustrated. "I mean, I think Adley could do it, but he is only a fourth year and too young and inexperienced. He would get rattled to easily when we play Slytherin."
"What about Zelter?" questioned Sirius looking at the list.
"I think she would make a better chaser than seeker," said James crossing out what he had just written and throwing down his pencil. "I have about five potential chasers, but no seeker." James closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
"What if you played seeker James?" asked Peter nervously. James and Sirius both looked at him with blank expressions. "I mean, you've always had good reflexes with the snitch. It seems to make sense to me." Peter finished meekly, looking down at the paper.
"I think Wormtail has a good point Prongs," grinned Sirius.
"Wormtail you are bloody brilliant!" exclaimed James. "Why didn't I think of that before?" James scrawled the names of his final choices onto a clean piece of parchment.
"Excellent!" he got up and ran out of the room, down the boys dormitory stairs and over to the bulletin board. He stuck the paper right in the middle and a crowd of eager students huddled around it. With in moments the common room was filled with a mixture of cried of happiness and groans of disappointment.
Faith, Lily and Liz entered the common room and were amazed at the noise and commotion filling the room.
"What the hell is all of this?" said Faith as a fifth year boy pushed past her screaming in happiness and dove into his friends, who were seated on one of the couches near the fire.
"Looks like the final quidditch choices are posted," said Lily as a fourth year girl turned from the board in tears. Her friend immediately hugged her.
"Come on Faith!" Liz tugged on her arm sleeve leading her towards the board. Lily could see the nervousness in Faith's face as she read the names. Suddenly Faith turned towards Lily and Liz.
"I MADE IT!" she screamed, throwing her hands up in the air and Liz immediately hugged her. The two girls jumped up and down for a moment, before gaining their composure.
"Excellent!" said Lily as she hugged her best friend.
"I can't freaking believe it!" gushed Faith. "I didn't think I was good enough. I thought that Marrow was twice as good as me!" Lily glanced over Liz's shoulder to see a satisfied looking James and Sirius. Lily had a feeling that James had a little bit of influence in his decision making, but she did not want to ruin Faith's moment.
"We are definitely going to have to celebrate tonight!" said Liz with a sly grin. The three girls dashed up to their dormitories in preparation for their plan.
After answering a few questions to disappointed housemates, James and Sirius and Peter tramped up the stairs back to their room.
"Padfoot, I hope you realize that I may have sealed your fate by putting Ravenwood as your partner," said James as he walked over to his trunk.
"Why do you say that?" asked Sirius as he plopped down on his bed and casually lead against the headboard.
"Oh no reason other than she'll probably hit more bludgers at you than the other team," said James as he pulled out a silvery cloak.
"Well either way I'll have her attention now, won't I?" grinned Sirius as he folded his hands behind his head to make himself more comfortable.
"You are a very ill man, Padfoot," said James shaking his head in mock disgust. "Now get off your arse and take out the map. Moony is waiting."
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