As the leaves began to fall off the Whomping Willow, the students at Hogwarts were immersed in their studies, club meetings, and Quidditch practices. The first Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was quickly approaching and the Gryffindor team was busy with practices.
"Team, gather around," shouted James midway through a practice. "I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work and dedication you all have shown throughout all of our practices. I realize that it's a busy time of year but I know that if we put as much effort into the match against Slytherin as we have during our practices we can definitely defeat them. Now, I'm going to end practice early tonight so that we can all get a good rest for tomorrow and I'll see you all here an hour before the match starts."
With this, the team began to pack up their equipment and headed into the Gryffindor locker rooms. As James, Sirius and the rest of the team carried the trunk into the office, Elena and Isobel went into the girls' side of the locker room and changed out of their practice uniforms and into regular clothes.
"Hey Elena, I'm going to head out. Are you okay to walk back by yourself?" asked Isobel as she slung her book bag over her shoulder.
"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm just going to wash my face before heading out. You want to walk down tomorrow?" replied Elena.
"Sure! Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow," answered Isobel before she turned and left the locker room.
After Elena washed her face and changed out of her uniform, she grabbed her bag and, as she was leaving the locker room, ran straight into Sirius, dropping her bag and spilling its contents across the ground.
"Oh no!" yelped Elena as she quickly began to gather her sheets of parchment before they could be ruined by the broken bottles of ink.
"Elena, I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention when I was leaving," said Sirius as he knelt down to help her gather her quills.
"It's alright and thanks for helping. I wasn't paying attention either. I guess I'll have to purchase some ink during the next visit to Hogsmeade. Do you know when that is?" replied Elena as she stuffed the quills and papers into her bag.
"I think its next weekend and please, let me pay you back for the ink," answered Sirius.
"No really, it's not necessary. Are you heading back to Gryffindor Tower?" asked Elena.
"Actually, I was going to swing by the kitchens and grab something to eat if you would like to come and join me. If you won't let me pay for all of those bottles of ink I broke, at least let me take you for lunch or a drink at The Three Broomsticks. I wont take no for an answer," replied Sirius as they began to walk back towards the castle.
"Alright, okay. I guess a drink at The Three Broomsticks would be okay and actually, I'm starving. I don't think I've ever even been down to the kitchens before. You actually know where they are?" said Elena.
"Of course! How have you never snuck down there before?" gasped Sirius with mock horror.
"I've never really snuck out after hours or done anything real rebellious," answered Elena.
"Well, we're going to need to work on that!" exclaimed Sirius as they continued to chat while they walked towards the castle's kitchens.
Bright and early the next morning, Elena and Isobel quickly ate breakfast in the Great Hall before heading down to the Quidditch pitch for the match.
"Sorry about not walking back with you last night," apologized Isobel as they walked down the path to the pitch, "I just had to start on my Ancient Runes assignment since we have the match today."
"Don't worry about it Isobel. Its fine and anyways I ran into Sirius as I was heading out so we walked back together and grabbed something to eat from the kitchens before going up to Gryffindor Tower," replied Elena.
"Wow, I never would have guessed. Is something going on between the two of you now? I always got the impression that you two could barely be civil around one another," responded Isobel as the walked down the steps into the pitch.
"Well, nothings going on between us. I guess we are sort of friends now and nothing more. And yes, I haven't always been a huge fan of his mostly because of how James and him treated people like Severus but, recently I've noticed them changing and treating people decently where as Severus and the other 'Death Eaters' have become almost cruel," answered Elena as she held the door to their side of the locker room open.
"I've noticed that too and well it always starts out as just friends right?" asked Isobel as she opened the locker that held her uniform and broom.
"Ha ha. Well let's talk about this later. We've got some Slytherins to beat," said Elena as she opened her locker.
"Now, I want a clean and fair game," shouted Madame Hooch as she opened the chest, releasing the Golden Snitch and Bludgers into the air. "Let the match begin!" she shouted as the Quaffle was released into the air and quickly grabbed by James who began to weave his way around the Slytherin Chasers and Beaters who were hitting the Bludgers at him.
"Potter has the Quaffle and . . . that's ten points for Gryffindor! It looks like Gryffindor is off to a strong start," announced Wendla Woodsbury, a fifth year Ravenclaw who was commentating the match.
"And that's Gray with the Snitch ending the match and scoring one-hundred and fifty points for Gryffindor. Gryffindor wins two-hundred and thirty to one-hundred and ten!" announced Wendla Woodsbury.
It was with this announcement that the Gryffindors burst into cheers and waved their banners with excitement and pride and the Slytherins began to slowly exit the stands with looks of disappointment on their faces.
"I can't believe we won!" shouted Isobel to Elena as they dismounted from their brooms.
"I know! If Gray hadn't caught the Quaffle when he did, I don't know if we would have won. It was getting a bit close there for a bit," replied Elena as they headed off the field.
"Oi! Everyone listen up!" shouted James as they all entered the locker rooms, "I just wanted to say great job and thanks Gray for catching the Snitch when you did."
"Well I wouldn't have been able to if Sirius and Phillip hadn't been keeping the Bludgers away from me," said Ronald Gray as he pulled off his gloves.
"So how about we all get changed and head back up to Gryffindor Tower where I am sure a celebration awaits," asked James. His question was met with cheers and exclamations and the team headed into the locker rooms to get cleaned up.
"Well you got back after practice a bit late last night Sirius," said James as he changed out of his Quidditch robes and into regular clothes.
"I bumped into Elena and completely knocked over her bag. I helped pick up all of her parchment and broken bottles of ink. We walked back to the castle and stopped by the kitchens to grab something to eat before returning to Gryffindor Tower," responded Sirius as he too changed.
"So is that all that happened then?" asked James as he locked his broom in his locker.
"Well, we are going to get a drink at The Three Broomsticks during the next Hogsmeade," answered Sirius, "but really that's all. She wouldn't let me pay her back for the ink so I had to come up with some way of repaying her."
"Sure. Well, at least now you can have her convince Lily to go out with me. You're my in with her," answered James.
"Prongs, I am not going to do anything of the sort. If you want Lily to go out with you, you need to do it on your own. I think I might actually like Elena and I'm not going to ruin my chances with her. Sorry mate," stated Sirius, "Ready to head up to the castle?"
"Sure, but I'm not going to forget that you refused to help me with the Lily situation," said James as they left the Quidditch pitch and headed back up to the castle.
Thanks everyone for reading and I apologize for once again taking so long to update but I really wanted to update my story during this very special time. Comments, feedback, and suggestions are always appreciated! I would love to know what you think! Thanks!