AN: noDownSide, thank you so much for the reviews, you got me thinking about face claims and I don't really have one for Lily, I guess maybe 2007 Tessa Virtue and for James, I tend to imagine Xavier Serrano, but obviously whoever you want to picture is fine.

Also, I'm sorry this update took so long, I was so mad at JK's transphobic tweets I didn't even want to look at my HP fics, but after seeing Dan and the rest of the HP actors' statements I felt a lot better and since this fic is so AU and with none of the main characters from the books, I got back into it pretty easily ngl.

They got the silver.

Lily deemed the Tallinn Trophy a success. She'd almost forgotten about her short dance stumble by the time they'd gotten home. There'd barely been any time to gush over their success at the rink before everyone went back to work since Nationals were just around the corner.

James had made it a habit to take the Tube with Lily after practice. He didn't live exactly close to her house, but it was more or less on the way. He'd get out at her stop and walk her the four blocks to her house as well, which Lily didn't think was necessary, but she let him.

"Listen, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you," Lily said as they stepped out onto the quiet street.

James looked at her expectantly.

Lily took a deep breath. "Well... I think that we should stick together throughout this season, whatever happens at Nationals."

James took a long look at her. "Okay."

"If we don't get any championship assignments, we could go to the Bavarian Open and Egna Trophy."

James smiled. "If that's what you want, Lily. But we are going to get assigned."

Lily returned a small smile.

"I'm really glad you said that, though."

Lily looked down bashful. She had no idea what had possessed her to say this to James.

The British National Championships were probably the biggest event for Alexandra Palace skaters in the season. The big majority of them represented Great Britain, so the Palace was nearly empty during the week of Nationals.

Yuna and Remus were currently the only skaters who didn't compete for Britain at the Palace but they'd both come to Sheffield and watch on Sunday.

Lily sat with Melanie on the small bus the coaches at the Palace had rented to get everyone to Sheffield. Melanie leaned her head on Lily's shoulder. "You nervous?"

"A little bit, I guess. I think I was more nervous for the Qualifier though."

Melanie chuckled slightly.

"You?"

"I don't want to sound arrogant, but this feels like we're just travelling for two hours for a dress rehearsal."

Lily laughed. The only way Melanie and Sirius weren't winning the Pairs event was if they just went out on the ice and did nothing. There was only one other team competing and they were nowhere near as good as Melanie and Sirius. "God, I wish I did pairs."

"No, you don't."

Lily exhaled. "No, I don't." She'd never trust any man to chuck her across the ice. She shuffled in her seat. "I think I'm more nervous about having to see John than about the competition itself. And I try not to think about what if he and Tala beat us but I keep imagining it in my head."

Melanie elbowed her slightly. "Lily, they are not beating you and James, they've been scoring some ten points lower than you guys in their international outings."

Lily groaned. "I know. But their qualifying score was on par with ours and it makes me think domestic judges like them more than us."

Melanie shook her head. "Even if they did, they can't deny your international pull, and at the end of the day that's what really matters."

Lily sighed. "Yeah, I guess." She changed the subject. "Is your mum still following us?"

Melanie raised her head to look through the back window. "I can't quite tell but I'm sure she would've called me already if she'd lost us so I could ask the driver to slow down."

Lily chuckled. Parents weren't usually allowed on the skaters' bus since they could be known to distract from the actual competition on occasion.

"Are James's parents coming today too?" Melanie asked.

"Um, his mum's coming tomorrow and then I think his dad's coming on Sunday."

Melanie nodded. "Do you know if she'll bring a banner? I love her banners."

Lily recalled the banners Mrs Potter usually made for James and Catherine ever since they'd started competing. They were always very flashy and kind of gigantic. Lily wasn't actually very sure if she wanted Mrs Potter to have made a banner for them. On the one hand, if she had made one, Lily would feel a bit strange at taking Catherine's place after she'd been with James for so long, but on the other hand, she'd probably get stressed thinking James's mum didn't like her as much as she did Catherine if she didn't. So, either way, it wouldn't be good for Lily's anxiety. "I don't know. And I don't intend to ask."

The trip to Sheffield wasn't very long, they arrived at their hotel around midday. As Lily entered the hotel lobby with Mary and Melanie she heard a shriek pierce through the room. "Oh my god!"

Lily turned to the source of the noise, although she knew who it was before she saw her. Maya Shevchenko had started at Alexandra Palace at the same time as them and they'd all become instant friends. But Maya had never taken to ice dancing and Minerva wasn't exactly known for being a singles coach, so at fifteen-years-old Maya had moved to Canada so she could train with one of the best singles coaches there was.

Of course, none of the girls talked to Maya every day anymore since they were all busy with their own stuff. But it was one of those friendships that no matter how long they went without talking, it was all the same whenever they saw each other again. Which was mostly at whatever competitions they coincided at and a then a few weeks in the summer.

Maya practically threw herself at her three friends managing to hit Lily in the face with her long brown locks. "I missed you guys so much."

"Didn't you see Mel at Rostelecom literally last week?" Mary asked.

Maya let go of them. "Yeah, but I haven't seen you guys since like July." She took Lily by the shoulders. "Lily, if you don't get assigned to Euros and Worlds, I'm going to start a riot."

Mary frowned. "Don't be daft, Maya. We're all going to start a riot if they don't get assigned."

Lily laughed. "Come on, let's get to our rooms."

After settling in in their hotel, Lily and her friends spent longer than they should catching up until Minerva called them over to go to the rink.

Lily had competed at the Sheffield arena enough times to feel at least a little comfortable there. They didn't have long to practice in the main rink but Lily thought it all went fine. She did see John and Severus, as was inevitable. Severus was easier to deal with since it'd been a while since they split, they'd become masters at ignoring each other whenever they crossed paths at an event. Lily would never speak ill of a fellow competitor but she couldn't help being amused by the plethora of lap-sit lifts Severus and his partner had in their arsenal. She had no idea how she hadn't noticed before how he never seemed to lift a girl more than a few feet off the ice.

John was another deal though. Lily hadn't seen him since their very messy split. And she knew he was too proud to just quietly ignore her as Severus did. As much as Lily did want to give him a piece of her mind, she very much did not want to get into a confrontation at Nationals. She'd rather let her skating talk for itself.

Luckily, John's new partner kept him pretty distracted and only occasionally he'd glare in Lily's direction. Lily would tense every time John's gaze found her during practice but James had taken it upon himself to squeeze her hand each time he felt her tense. Lily found that she appreciated it.

Overall, it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. If John continued with his passive-aggressiveness the entire time and didn't attempt to talk to her, Lily would be fine.

All the dance events were taking place on Saturday afternoon one right after the other. Which meant both Minerva and Malcolm barely had time to attend to every one of their students.

Lily felt kind of bad about not watching Mary perform the Short Dance at the junior event but it took place right before the senior Short Dance and Lily knew Mary understood.

Lily and James were going in the first group and Lily did not know which gods to thank for the fact that she wasn't in the same warm-up group as John or Severus. They weren't even in the same group as Narcissa and Evan, whom Lily didn't hate, but could be quite unpleasant.

Everything started out fine. Lily had spotted James's mum, who had dragged some other mums into holding her at-least-ten-feet-wide bright red banner that read 'Lily & James' in even louder gold lettering. She'd found herself grinning at it and waving at Mrs Potter.

It truly was going well. Better than ever, even. Lily was even enjoying herself. It wasn't until the very last second that it happened. The lift.

Lily loved their Short Dance lift. It was everything a Rotational Lift could ever aspire to be. It was fast, it covered a lot of ice, and there were several changes of position. The lift was so intricate that Lily barely even noticed all the changes in position, so she had no idea how many changes had happened when she heard a groan from James and all of a sudden she was no longer draped over his shoulders but he was carrying her bridal style having slowed down his rotations slightly. Lily tried to shift her legs so she could at least hit an aesthetically pleasing position before he had to put her down. They were going to lose at least two levels for that.

Thankfully, after the lift, the program ended quite quickly. As Lily rose from her finishing position, she saw the disappointed look on James's face and her chest tightened. She wrapped her arms around his neck. She had the sudden urge to comfort him. "It's okay, it's okay," she whispered softly.

"Was it your back?" Minerva asked as they got off the ice and handed them their skate guards.

James nodded.

As they sat in the Kiss & Cry waiting for their scores, Lily decided that their Short Dance was cursed. There was no other explanation. They'd had major mistakes in it twice in a row now. It was just not normal.

The scores didn't take long. 63.47. It could've been worse. It might even be enough to hold on to third place, which was their goal. Lily hugged James once more, she wanted to talk to him, but Minerva quickly rushed him off to physical therapy.

Lily hoped he wouldn't beat himself too much about it. She knew he had a back injury, she wasn't currently injured but she'd had her fair share of injuries too. It happened. Lily didn't know a skater who hadn't gone through injuries. Even Tessa once had to stop in the middle of a performance because the pain in her legs was too much.

Lily wished she could say all of this to James but she had no idea where his physical therapy was to take place while they were in Sheffield.

"Oh, Lily, there you are!"

Lily barely had time to turn around before Mary threw her arms around her. "You were great!"

Lily appreciated Mary's sentiment but she couldn't help a small scoff. "Well..."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Yeah, the lift was botched but other than that everything was great and the score was pretty good."

Lily cocked her head in thought. "Yeah, I guess."

"D'you want to watch the rest of the Short Dance?"

"Not really. But we still have to wait for the Pairs Short and there's not much else to do here."

Mary smiled. "That's the spirit."

Lily went to change out of her dress and by the time she and Mary walked out onto the arena the last couple was on the ice. It was John and Tala. Lily took a peek at the current standings and her heart fluttered when she saw she and James were holding on to the third place. But this was the decisive moment.

Lily and Mary stood back from the boards, almost in the shadows.

John and Tala skated cleanly. Tala was very obviously a better skater than John, but he tried. John had always been strong enough to do complicated lifts but he did occasionally suffer from shaky leg syndrome whenever he had to do a one-legged lift. Lily despised it.

Lily might have been biased, but she definitely wouldn't put them above her and James, even with the mistake. She kind of wished James were there so he could call the levels but she tried her best to pay attention to the key points within her eyesight. She was pretty sure they'd missed at least three out of the eight.

Mary linked arms with Lily as they looked up at the screen waiting for the final standings. Lily took a deep breath. Whatever happened, it was okay. It was just the Short Dance, plenty of time to redeem themselves in the Free Dance tomorrow.

Lily had to blink a few times for her brain to process the Short Dance results. John and Tala were in third. She and James were in fourth.

"What the fuck!" Mary raised her voice. "How the fuck are they two and a half points above you guys, that's literally nonsensical."

Lily took a shuddering breath, trying to slow her beating heart. "It's okay, Mary."

"They got thirty-four TES, how did that even happen? How?"

Lily shook her head. "Well, there's not much we can do about it, either way."

Mary was about to go off again when Lily froze. John and Tala were leaving the Kiss & Cry and there was a glint in John's eye that rubbed Lily the wrong way. He seemed quite pleased with himself.

He passed by her and smirked. "Hope you enjoy that potato medal, Lily."

"What the – " Mary was about to go after him but Lily stopped her.

"It's fine, Mary. When he gets the potato medal, that'll be the best payback."

Mary grinned. "Fuck yeah, that's my girl!"

Lily and Mary went to sit in the stands and wait for the Pairs Short Program to start. They talked a little bit about how Mary's own Short Dance had gone – she and Thomas were currently in the first place – and Lily tried not to think about John's comment. She used the term potato medal jokingly as well, but when John said it, it sounded so arsehole-y. It wasn't like a fourth place was the worst thing in the world. Fourth place at the Olympics or at Worlds would be an amazing result. She knew if she went to Euros and Worlds and got a fourth place in either, she'd be quite pleased.

But if Lily and James did end up fourth at Nationals – which they wouldn't – Lily was glad there wasn't an actual pewter medal, she'd be so embarrassed to have to go up on the podium after not making the World team, she had no idea how American skaters stomached it.

As the two sole couples skating in the Pairs event took to the ice, James climbed onto the stands and sat beside Lily. "Hey."

Lily smiled. "Hi. Are you okay?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine. It was just a bit of a muscle spasm. I'm sorry about – "

"You don't have to apologise," Lily cut him off. "It's okay. We'll bounce back in the free. Did Minerva clear you to come and watch?"

James scoffed slightly. "Of course she did."

"Even if she didn't, you know you can't expect him to just miss Sirius, Lil," Mary put in.

James smiled. "See? Mary gets it."

Lily rolled her eyes.

Lily was quiet for the rest of the evening. Going into this event she truly hadn't expected to actually end up in fourth place. It sure seemed like a real possibility now, but she tried to tell herself there was no way. After getting back to the hotel, Malcolm had told Lily and James that John's father had made a very generous donation that summer to the British Ice Skating Association and he wasn't saying that was the reason the technical and judging panels had been so lenient with John and Tala, but he was kind of saying that. It made Lily's blood boil.

She tried to tell herself that the real talent would win out in the end but she didn't feel very hopeful after seeing the protocols. John and Tala had gotten every single key point on their Ravensburger Waltz, and that just wasn't right.

The Free Dance was the very last event to take place at Nationals. Which meant it was the most well-attended event since everyone was done competing. Lily's parents had gotten to Sheffield earlier in the morning sans Petunia. They told Lily she had a lot of homework to do, but Lily knew that was bullshit.

Lily had spent the previous night stressed. Her brain just wouldn't calm down. But now only a few minutes out from going out on the ice she started feeling a lot calmer. Her parents both hugged her tightly and whispered words of encouragement before leaving for their seats. And she was quite surprised when James's parents did the same.

Lily and James were going to be second to skate in the last group, they stood by the boards watching Penny and Nick skate as they waited to be let onto the ice. Lily reached for James's hand. She flexed her legs trying to get her blood flowing. She paused. "Shit. I just remembered. Did Maya win?"

James smiled. "Yeah, of course, she won."

"I'm such a shit friend. Didn't even check to see if she won."

James chuckled. "Well, in your defence it wasn't very likely she wasn't going to win."

Lily smiled. He was right. She took a moment to look at James in his black trousers and white shirt with ruffled sleeves, hair perfectly tousled. He looked... good.

"Lily."

She looked back up at him.

"Mary told me what John said to you yesterday."

Lily averted her eyes. "Oh."

"And I just wanted to tell you that even if we get fourth, I don't mind getting a thousand potato medals as long as I get them with you."

Lily let out a small smile and nodded.

"In fact, any potato medal automatically turns into a gold one by the sole fact that I got it with you."

"Alright, you can stop now, I feel like you're heading into a weird direction."

James chuckled.

Penny and Nick got off the ice.

James squeezed Lily's hand. "Alright, let's go get them, kiddo."

Lily was happy.

They still didn't know if they were getting the bronze or not but she was happy. She and James had done everything they could on the free dance. And Lily hadn't felt this satisfied by a skate in a long time.

Lily and James sat off to the side behind the boards quietly. Tala and John were the last couple to skate. Their Romeo and Juliet program was so tired and overdone, Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the corny choreography every five seconds.

Lily started making calculations in her head when they finally finished. But her brain just absolutely refused to do maths at the moment. James reached for her hand. They'd gotten 104.90 points in the free dance and 168.37 total, which was good. Narcissa and Evan were a long way above them but they were only around five points behind Penny and Nick.

Lily held her breath.

"... a total score of 168.22 points and they are currently in the fourth place."

James jumped up from his seat. He bent down to hug Lily and picked her up from her seat. "We did it. We got the bronze."

Lily nodded against his shoulder.

Minerva and Malcolm approached them and Lily and James broke away to hug their coaches.

After hugs and congratulations were exchanged, Lily walked over to the changing room with James to get his skates since he'd taken them off earlier. Lily tried to scold him for having spent this entire time walking around in just his socks but she was so happy she could barely find it in herself to care.

As they walked down the hallway, Lily spotted John angrily come out of one of the rooms. She moved slightly behind James. Way to bring her down from her high.

"Congratulations on that bronze. Let's just hope that Lily's nerves hold up when you get to the important competitions," John spat.

James took a step forward. "Listen, man. I know you're upset but there is no reason for you to take it out on Lily, she hasn't done anything to you."

John laughed humourlessly. "She hasn't done anything to me? She took an entire year from my career!"

James held up a hand, a frown etched onto his face. "Okay, you need to back off, dude –"

"Although I hope you both know you're not getting the championships assignments that easily."

Lily froze. She gripped James's arm. She felt like she was going to pass out.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" James snarled.

John smirked. "Well, you might be decent skaters but would it really be a good look for the British federation to have the son of an illegal alien on the National Team?"

Lily's jaw dropped. "What the fuck is wrong with you John –"

James shook his head to cut Lily off. "My mother is a perfectly naturalised British citizen if that's what you're talking about."

There was a wicked glint in John's eye. "Didn't she overstay her student visa for two years until she could get your father to marry her?"

James's jaw clenched. "Even if she did, I don't see how that has anything to do with us making the team. You're just mad you got the fourth place."

John chuckled. "Well, I guess we'll see when the championship teams get announced."

He walked away, still with a smirk on his face.

Lily exhaled. "He's just trying to get under our skin, he does that."

James nodded, he seemed a little calmer. "Yeah, I mean, my mother's citizenship whatever has never been an issue before, I doubt it'll be an issue now."

Lily tried to smile encouragingly. "He's just trying to find an excuse so that people will look away from his blatant bribing of NISA officials, which is literally the only explanation for the scores he and Tala got."

James nodded and smiled slightly. "I don't know how you managed to stand him for an entire year."

"Yeah, me neither."

Lily managed to not think too much about the encounter with John as they went back out to the rink and were thoroughly hugged and congratulated by their friends and family. But it lurked at the back of her mind.

As she stood next to James on that third step of the podium with a medal around her neck she spotted James's parents sitting next to hers, all four of them holding the bright red banner with their names on it. James put his arm around her. She felt a flutter in her stomach. She thought she would've been happy with a thousand potato medals if it was with him too.