Gryffindor's first Quidditch match took place on the first, wonderful Saturday in November. Lily was surprised that James wasn't still reeling from Remus' celebration, which was an all-out bonanza. Good in almost every way, the only issue that Lily had seen was that after wishing Remus a hurried "Happy Birthday," Marlene had slunk red-faced into a corner of the common room and talked to Lily distractedly the entire evening. The same happened on the evening of the magnificent Halloween feast. But on the brisk morning of the match, Lily was hoping things would change as she angled herself so that Marlene would hopefully get a seat next to Remus. Lily hadn't told Dorcas about Marlene's secret yet, for Dorcas was back to a renewed frenzy of letter-writing. The girls entered the stands together though, chatting and laughing as the breeze bristled their hair. It was a fine day.
The Marauders were already in their places and Lily was disappointed to see that Remus was in the center of Sirius and Peter. Lily took her seat next to Sirius. Peter said hello and excitedly launched into his predictions for the match, how many goals James might score, how the Slytherins had planned to get past James, how James might pull off new moves today, etcetera etcetera. Sirius rolled his eyes. It was Emmeline who had sometimes said that the wrong person was dating James Potter, but she was in the locker room now after an uncharacteristically fidgety breakfast.
Peter did bring out a good point though. The Gryffindors started off by playing the Slytherins, Lily had forgotten. Last year, Rosier had been on the Quidditch team. She wondered what would happen this year.
Finally the teams strode on the field. The sun was bright but hidden behind greyish clouds. Everything seemed sharply in focus as Lily's stomach fluttered with butterflies for James and Emmeline.
The Gryffindors looked good this year. James was a stellar captain and he had an eye for talent. From Emmeline, Lily knew how much the Chasers had rehearsed. From James, she had heard about the rest of the team in great detail. She crossed her fingers for the Gryffindors as the green-robed figures took up their brooms.
The Slytherin captain for this year looked to be Davy Gudgeon, a burly yet sharp-eyed seventh year who was usually quiet, except on the pitch. Lily knew from James that Gudgeon's usual strategy as a Chaser was to charge the Keeper and use force and speed. Next to Lily, Marlene was already clutching the fringes of her scarf in fear for Emmeline. The only recognizable female Slytherin was Gladys Gudgeon, a shrimpy, mousy sixth year who was self-seeking but not quite as evil as some others from her house. No relation to Davy. No sign of Rosier. Lily didn't have time to make out the other Slytherin faces because James and Davy shook hands and were on their brooms in a flash. The games began.
"And it's a lovely day on the pitch now, ooh here goes the Gryffindors, Cresswell in possession." Mafalda Hopkirk, with a small crimson rosette on her blue Ravenclaw scarf, was doing the commentary.
"Gryffindor has excellent form this year, Cresswell to Potter, Potter to Chittock, Chittock flies—oh, narrowly misses a Bludger! Croaker's, I think. There goes the Quaffle—ah, Potter recovers the Quaffle. Potter dives—that's a Bludger!—the Bludger misses, Potter scores! Ten-nothing Gryffindor!"
The scarlet fans cheered happily, looking forward to another good match. Lily had nearly bitten through her lip as the Bludger pelted at James' head but she roared along with the rest of them as Dirk Cresswell scored next, bringing the Gryffindors to an early lead.
"Slytherin in possession and it's Davy Gudgeon with the Quaffle. He swerves, he—what!" Davy Gudgeon had just rammed Glenda Chittock, sending her careening off into the air while holding on for dear life. Madam Hooch flew over with a dangerous glare.
"Penalty to Gryffindor!" continued Mafalda. "Excellent! And Potter takes the Quaffle, flies at Wilkes, Wilkes dives, misses—Thirty points for Gryffindor!
"There appears be some activity with Seekers Bagman and Gladys Gudgeon, has Gudgeon seen the Snitch—? No, no, a feint. Meanwhile, Rufford of Slytherin in possession. Rufford passes to Davy Gudgeon who misses Harris' Bludger. Gudgeon shoots—deflected! New Gryffindor Keeper Vance diverts the Quaffle, picked up by Potter—no surprise, really—and Potter takes it downfield. There's Croaker, Potter dodges and yes, it's forty-nothing!"
In a few moments, Gryffindor was up by fifty. Then sixty. Lily cheered herself hoarse while Sirius laughed at her enthusiasm. But Lily didn't care; she hadn't been able to cheer all these years and she wasn't going to deny herself now…Lily had been an avid football fan at home and her father had taken her to the local games. Quidditch was even more exciting if one wasn't a diehard hooligan—
"Oh gracious, is that allowed?" boomed Mafalda Hopkirk worriedly.
"What happened?" cried Lily, who had been watching James zig-zag through the Slytherins.
"That slick git Croaker hit Emmeline with a Bludger. Caught her dead in the stomach while the Quaffle wasn't even in range—Slytherins get nasty when they aren't scoring goals," replied Sirius grimly, looking the field with concentration.
"And Davy Gudgeon scores," half-muttered Mafalda with considerable distaste. "I suppose Madam Hooch will have to allow it but there's still a Gryffindor penalty. Taken by Chittock and since Wilkes goes completely off—yes, the score is seventy to ten."
"WHAT? They don't deserve the ten, those cheating, stinking—" That was Dorcas, Lily knew, and Lily agreed heartily. Emmeline was rubbing her stomach with her hand and she was wincing. Nonetheless, Emmeline stayed in front of the goals. James flew over to her with a look of concern but Emmeline waved her hand and James was off once more, the games continuing.
"It's Rufford with the Quaffle. Rufford goes down from a dive, rushes the Keeper but he is stopped! It was Bludger from Twiddle that did it and there's the other Bludger from Harris. The Gryffindor Beaters are warming to there work here—Davy doesn't seem to pleased—"
It wasn't a dirty game as far as Hogwarts went, yet Lily couldn't help but cringe whenever the Bludger or a large Slytherin came too near to Emmeline or James. The match was exciting, but she was still glad when Otto Bagman caught the Snitch at the score of ninety to twenty. Lily hurried down to the pitch with Marlene, Dorcas, Sirius, Remus, and Peter in tow. The Gryffindor team was congratulating each other and had broken up moments before for individual kudos.
Caradoc Dearborn was already there, holding a laughing Emmeline tightly, who was very pleased about the game on a whole. Lily saw that Caradoc was obligingly cheerful for his girl but staring daggers over Emmeline's shoulder at Croaker. Croaker scowled (and paled nonetheless) and stomped off to his changing rooms. Good for him, nodded Lily to Caradoc. Lily hardly turned away before she was swept up herself by a gleeful James.
"We won! And we scrounged up enough points to put us ahead for the next match too! If Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff finish with different margins, we could even get a start on—"
It took a firm hand to cut of another Quidditch speech.
"Congratulations, James," smiled Lily fondly. His eyes were bright and glittering in the sun and his black hair was messier than usual. She had to admit that is did look better tossed about the wind. And he was still rattling on about points and formations, the goof. Lily slid her arms around his neck and planted a soft kiss on his lips.
She drew back and he was grinning.
"Are you putting up with me, Lily?" he asked teasingly.
"Putting up with the Quidditch, yes," she answered pleasantly. "But not you. I wouldn't like you so much if you didn't have that small bit of you that was a complete nutter."
"Really now?"
"Uh huh. You're lovable in your own way." James' grin was stuck as he looked steadily down at his girlfriend. Lily knew he wasn't mad, and he wasn't angry, but suddenly things were serious. A little awkward. Like Lily had said one word too many, or James should have said something but didn't, or something had been said too soon or too late. It was hard to describe as they stared right into each other for that strange moment. A moment that was somehow gentle and sweet. Lily never wanted James to stop looking at her the way he was now.
"We don't even get to congratulate him anymore, do we Moony?" drawled Sirius loudly from somewhere to the side. James snapped away from Lily's eyes with a visible shake. Lily moved reluctantly as well. James turned to his best friends.
"Sorry Padfoot, you don't get a kiss."
"Then I suppose today is a good day."
"Padfoot, stow it."
"Nice game, mate," grinned Remus. Peter came up too.
"That was really great flying, James! You were the best out there!"
"Thanks, Wormtail." James gave Peter an appreciative smile all his own and shifted Lily to his side, arm still firmly around her waist. Caradoc and Emmeline walked over in the same position. Emmeline still elated.
"You were excellent, Emmeline!" greeted Marlene cheerfully, giving her a little hug. Lily nodded in agreement.
"You do fly well. James already mentioned how jealous he is."
James scoffed.
"I'll let it slide this once, Lily," he said in a voice that was very unconvincingly stern. Emmeline and Lily shared a grin before Emmeline turned to the Dorcas.
"And how was that performance, Dorcas? Hmm?"
Dorcas laughed at Emmeline's jubilant smugness.
"Well, you did miss that one time…" began Dorcas teasingly. Emmeline rolled her eyes.
"I was going for protecting my internal organs—"
"I meant the other time."
"The sun was in my eyes," declared Emmeline indignantly. "And for another thing—"
"You're an idiot, Emmy." Dorcas hugged her and Emmeline laughed again.
"And you, Dorcas, are simply jealous that my braid didn't let out one jot during the whole game—"
"Lunch, anyone?" interrupted Caradoc loudly.
"That's the smartest thing anyone's said all day," Sirius answered.
I had to extract the former Slytherin captain, Mordicus Egg, because I rechecked his dates and he would not have been in Hogwarts at the time. I stand by what I said before. It's downright arduous to find enough names to accommodate Quidditch teams. More stuff to come in the future chapters, and pay attention to Rosier.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE, READ AND REVIEW!
(Begins old review response that might be interesting for others.)
Peter does have some interesting qualities and a wee bit of intrigue as to why he would betray all of his friends (his only real friends for years) to Voldemort. It's not that I don't like him as a writer but that I don't like him as a person because I really, really despise what he did in the books. Hard for me to sympathize with him I guess.
Out of all the characters in the books, it's actually Remus who I feel the most sorry for. He's lost all of his best friends as this point (dead or traitors) and he beats himself up for everything. He's the last Marauder and he's had a hard life by J.K. Rowling. I'm not going to make it worse here ;)
(Mirax Myra Terrik)