Before I start jabbering about the last chapter, I have some news I want to share. I just had this huge concert to prepare for—I play clarinet—where I would be all by myself in front of a ton of my friends, family, and strangers. Scariest thing ever, especially because I had to pick and prepare the music all by myself. And I ended up doing really, really well. I have been practicing for this recital since about last May, and it's finally done! So I am very, very happy and proud. Just thought I'd share that with you.

So, the last chapter. Actually, I have nothing to say about it because I already said what needed to be said at the end of the chapter.

Let's get ready for some Quidditch!

Disclaimer: So I mentioned my big recital, right? Well, I get horrible stage fright so to make me take my mind off of my nerves at school my brother gave me a huge stack of Sorcerer's Stone trivia cards. And even though I knew the spell that Ron thought would turn Scabbers yellow, I didn't know that the dwarf that was at the entrance of Gringott's was a head shorter than Harry!

So obviously, if I answered that the dwarf was three heads shorter than Harry, it proves that I am not JK Rowling, because then I wouldn't know the insignificant facts of my own book! This proves that I don't own Harry Potter.

Get it? Good.

Lily had planned on waking up early to catch whoever was sleeping in Charlotte's old bed, but 7:00 on Tuesday morning was not early enough to catch them. When Lily sat up in bed, she saw the twisted covers and the trunk at the foot of the bed, but no body snoozing under the sheets.

That evening, Lily rushed through dinner so she could start on her History of Magic homework at the table. Ari and Thomas stared at her and dropped their mouths open; Ari didn't even notice that meat pasty had fallen out of her mouth.

"What in cauldrons name are you doing?" Robby gasped. He and Paul had also noticed Lily doubled over, intent on her homework.

"Homework, of course," muttered Lily, frowning. She couldn't remember where Uri the Ushering Troll had worked when he had overheard dark wizards in 1609 at a play plotting against the Minister of Magic, or why his earwax had come in handy.

"What's happened to my best friend?" Ari said sadly, lowering her head. Robby and Paul both bowed their heads and cried "Oh, what a tragic day!"

"Cut it out!" Lily yelled, jerking her head up. "I just want to get a leg up on my homework, so that when I fall behind I won't be so far behind." She lowered her head back down and continued scribbling furiously. Ari, Robby, and Paul kept their heads lowered to hide the grins spreading up their faces.

When Lily had finished—though she had to admit she did not think her essay was very good—she excused herself from the Great Hall and went up to bed with her Potions book.

"Eight o'clock in the evening…and I'm sitting in bed, reading about Veritaserum…" Lily muttered to herself, shaking her head. She had not been trying to get ahead in school at dinner: She wanted to use the time to her advantage and get to her dorm as quickly as possible to catch whoever was sleeping in Charlotte's bed.

"There you are!" Ari said two hours later when she clambered into the room. "I've been doing my homework in the common room, thinking that you had maybe gone to the library or something. But you've been up here all along?"

"Of course," Lily said, not looking up from her book. She wanted to look like she was studying, but she was reading the same line over for the third time.

Ari shook her head. "I can't believe you're lying in bed, reading about potions." Ari sat down on Lily's bed. "I mean, I don't blame you. Vintigo was psycho to assign you all of those difficult potions. But still…it's kind of nerdy."

"I just want to be on top of things. I don't want to give Vintigo a reason to fail me. Trust me, I'm going to get these potions down."

"I know you can do it!" Ari said cheerfully. "And Thomas and I will be there to help! Well, Thomas will," she frowned. "I pretty much suck at Potions."

Lily laughed. "You don't suck! Although I can't really tell if you are good or bad at Potions. You created the complete opposite of the potion you should have been making earlier!"

"Yeah, well like I said, Thomas can help. I'll probably just end up doing the opposite and get you failed," Ari said cheerfully. She stood up and stretched. "I'm going to sleep. I do better rushing to do homework in the morning than staying up the night before."

Lily picked up her book and started reading again. In a matter of minutes Ari was tucked into her bed.

"'Night, Lils," Ari mumbled under her pillows.

"'Night, Ari," Lily yawned. Ari fell asleep instantly.

Lily was determined to stay awake as long as possible so she could catch her mysterious new roommate, but the Potions book was only making her sleepy. When Ellie Aria came into the room nearly half of an hour later, Lily was only five pages farther along. An hour later, Lilac Finnegan came into the room and threw herself on her bed.

By midnight, Lily's eyelids were drooping. She had completely discarded her Potions book (it had been thrown to the end of her bed at some point). Orbit, Ellie Aria's kitten, had curled up on one of Lily's pillows. Orbit nudged Lily with his head every time she started to drift off to sleep.

"Justdropit…" Lily slurred, her head lolling onto her shoulder. She sagged against her pillows. "Orbit…nomore nudgies…" and with a sigh, Lily began to fall asleep. But right before she entered the deep, dark, and dreamless part of sleep, Lily fluttered her eyelids and could have sworn she saw a phoenix swooping around outside of her window.

The next morning, Lily was disappointed to see that Charlotte's old bed was empty, but that there had been obvious signs of use. Lily watched the bed until she became sleepy and woke up to find it empty for the next week. Though she was disappointed, she was at least getting more homework done.

"I am in shock!" Ari exclaimed Friday evening at dinner. "You have turned over a new leaf."

Lily had still not confided in Ari or Thomas about the empty bed, but was curious as to why Ari, Lilac, and Ellie had yet to notice the empty bed. There had been a moment on Wednesday when Ellie had asked about the empty bed, but Lilac and Ari brushed it aside with disinterest.

"'Tis a sad day for our favorite cousin," Robby said mournfully. He and Paul had their clasped hands and were looking up at the enchanted ceiling dramatically.

"She has become more like our mother than her own sons have," Paul looked close to tears.

"Oh, knock it off!" their young sister Harriet said as she walked up behind them with her dinner plate.

"Nice of you to join us, Harriet," Robby said sarcastically as Harriet slid in between her twin brothers.

"Well, I've hardly seen you all week," she shrugged.

"Have you made any new friends?" Lily asked, a little embarrassed. She had meant to keep a better eye on her young cousin since she was a first year.

"Yeah, a few."

"And how are your classes?" Thomas asked Harriet.

Harriet wrinkled her nose. "They're okay, but I absolutely loathe my Potions teacher!"

"No surprise," Robby, Paul, Lily, and Ari said at the same time. They laughed together.

"You're a Weasely. That's almost as bad as being a Potter," Sirius had heard the laughter and come over. He and Lily laughed together darkly.

"Hey, Lily, can I talk to you a second?" Sirius asked.

"Sure," Lily shot Ari and Thomas a look. Sirius hardly ever sought out Lily privately.

"What is it?" Lily asked as they moved to the end of the table, a little ways away from Fiona Featherstone, who was eating alone again.

Sirius looked around. "First, I heard about Vintigo. That's really harsh, but don't let her get to you."

Lily crossed her arms. "I don't need your help! Since when have you offered me any advice?"

"Since I saw that you were being treated unfairly for my actions."

"Oh, taking a leaf out of dad's book? Trying to be more noble?"

"Just shut up! I'm trying to tell you something!" Sirius hissed angrily.

Lily softened slightly and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, go ahead."

"Look, Vintigo is not your only problem. I heard Michael Chang was chatting you up."

"Who told you that?" Lily fired up.

"That's not important. I don't trust Chang."

Lily gave Sirius a sarcastic smile. "Well, it's a good thing I don't value your opinion!" Lily flounced away from her brother.

"Lily, wait!" Sirius called, but Lily ignored him.

"What'd Sirius want?" Ari whispered when Lily sat back down.

"He doesn't trust Chang. He was about—"

"Lily!" Sirius came up behind her. "I'm not finished."

Lily was about to respond when Robby, who had just been chatting with Paul, turned towards Sirius and asked, "So, know what tomorrow is?"

Sirius opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. "Saturday?"

"Exactly!" Robby and Paul exclaimed.

Sirius looked amused. "So?"

"So?" Paul mimicked Sirius while Robby said, "It's Quidditch tryouts!"

Someone kicked Lily under the table. Ari was giving Lily a significant look.

"We heard you got Captain!" Paul said.

"So do we have to try out again? Robby fluttered his eyelashes and stuck out his lower lip.

"Nah, nobody will show up to try for Beater if they know you both will be there," Sirius grinned. "I am convinced that you both should have been born to Uncle Fred or Uncle George. You are the best the schools seen since our uncles played. And anyway, I am not going to make anyone who was previously on the team fly again unless someone shows up to challenge them."

"Why are the tryouts so early if the season doesn't begin until November?" Ari wondered.

"I wanted to get the team assembled right away so we can begin early training. It's never to early to start practicing," Sirius replied matter-of-factly.

"So what positions are you looking for?" Thomas asked. Thomas wasn't very good at flying, but he loved to watch Quidditch and was an avid supporter.

"The team needs a new Chaser and a new Keeper," Sirius said. "I also want an alternate for the Seeker position."

Robby, Paul, and Sirius talked Quidditch for a little while longer. Lily kept her mouth shut and did not join in. She ignored Ari kicking her every so often. Finally, Ari decided to take control.

"So, know who's going to go for Keeper?" Ari butted into the conversation.

"I heard Paisley Jargon wanted to," Robby said. "Also Ethan Tremaine and Jonathan Fleet."

"Ethan?" Thomas exclaimed. "He's a third year with us. I've seen him fly before, he's not that great."

"Well, Paisley is really good. She's also really hot," Paul said and looked down the table at the fifth year. Paisley had long blonde hair and big blue eyes, but Lily didn't like her very much. She always talked down to Lily and Ari like she was better than them.

"And Jonathan is really good at Chaser, but he really wants to play Keeper," Robby said.

"Hey, I think you're forgetting about someone named—"

"Ari!" Lily cut it with a loud, nervous laugh. "I just saw Rayna Perfusus laughing at your hair!"

"She's just jealous!" Ari shouted and stood up abruptly, sending her fork flying into the air. She stomped over to the Slytherin table and stood in front of Rayna, who had been staring at Malfoy with a dreamy expression on her face.

"Ha!" Ari closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. With a "poof!" her hair turned into the same greasy hairstyle as Rayna's.

"How do you like me now?" Ari yelled at a bewildered Rayna. "HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?"

"I don't like you at all!" Rayna snapped, clearly taken aback by Ari's behavior.

"Good, I don't like you either!" Ari shouted as she changed her hair back to the brown and blue-streaked locks she had before. She stomped back to her friends and sat down with a huff. Neither Robby, Paul, Thomas, Sirius, Harriet, nor Lily was surprised by Ari's reaction to Lily's comment.

Lily sighed in relief. Ari had completely forgotten about Keeper tryouts and was babbling angrily about Rayna Perfusus and that she was out to get her.

In bed that night—and yes, Charlotte's old bed was still empty—Lily lay awake, staring at her bed hangings, trying to suppress the bubbling anxiety in her stomach. Only Ari knew her secret: Lily desired to be the Seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Lily knew that she could never be Seeker while Sirius was Seeker however, so she had settled for Keeper. She was an excellent Seeker, but she was extraordinary at every position.

Sirius had no idea that she could fly. Robby and Paul had had their suspicions before when they had played Quidditch, but Sirius had always been completely oblivious.

The next morning, Lily was upset to see that she had missed her mysterious fourth roommate yet again, but she was not as upset as usual. She had more important things on her mind.

"Ari!" Lily whispered to her snoozing friend. "Ari, wakeup!" She shook Ari, who simply rolled onto her side and mumbled.

Lily heaved a great sigh, and leaned over to Ari's nightstand. She picked up a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"Oh well, I guess I'll just eat these Every Flavor Beans since Ari is too busy to," Lily shook the box in Ari's ear.

"Oh no you don't!" Ari yelled and shot up. She snatched the box from Lily's hand. Ari was quite particular to her candy.

"Ari, I have to tell you something!" Lily said anxiously.

Ari glanced outside. "The sun's not even up yet! It must be about five in the morning!" She shook her box of Every Flavor Beans into her hand and popped some in her mouth. "Ew gross: grass, raspberry, and tomato soup. Not the best combination."

"Ari, I have decided to try for Keeper!" Lily could not contain herself.

Obviously, neither could Ari. "HOLY MERLIN'S BEARD! You're going to do it?"

Lily half smiled, half grimaced. "Yes, I think so."

Ari looked beyond pleased. "Oh Lily, I'm so excited for you! But you don't have a broom."

Lily pointed to the space under her bed. "I forgot to tell you. My mum bought me a broom without telling my dad. You know how he gets about Quidditch, and I didn't want him to get high hopes about me making the team."

"What kind did you get?"

Lily smiled widely and stood up. She gestured dramatically and spoke in great vibrato, "From the creators of the fastest racing broom in the world—the Firebolt—comes their latest creation: The Lightener!"

Ari gasped. "You got a Lightener? That's only the most amazing broom in the wizarding world! It's even better than a Firebolt!"

"I know, I know. I planned on getting a Firebolt 770, the latest Firebolt model, but they sent a prototype of the Lightener to my dad since he was the most famous Firebolt user ever. My mum told my dad not to show it to Sirius because they had just spent money on a new broom for him and didn't want him to ask for yet another broom. So my mum went to Diagon Alley and bought the Lightener for me. It was the only one in the store!"

"That is so cool, you have to let me try it out!" Ari said gleefully.

"Yeah, I will…after Quidditch tryouts." Lily said painfully. "I wish I could be Seeker."

"Don't worry, you'll do great," Ari patted her arm reassuringly. "Come on, let's get dressed and head down to breakfast early." Ari glanced out the window. It was starting to drizzle. "We don't want you flying in poor conditions on an empty stomach!"

Lily thought she would be very lucky if she could even hold her food down, let alone put it in her mouth.

"Fancy watching the Quidditch tryouts?" Thomas asked Ari and Lily at breakfast. He had loaded his plate up with sausages, eggs, kipper, bacon, ham, and cheese; Lily looked ready to be sick at the amount of food Thomas was eating.

"How do you retain such a lean body?" Ari asked in amazement.

"Simple trick," Thomas grinned slyly. "I stay in shape."

"No you don't," Lily couldn't help but inject.

"Yes I do. What am I doing early in the morning? Transforming the Room of Requirement into my personal workout room!" Thomas winked.

"Pathetic!" Ari snickered.

"So, fancy watching the Quidditch tryouts?" Thomas repeated while throwing a piece of bacon at Ari.

"I think that's a wonderful idea!" Ari exclaimed as she threw a biscuit at Thomas. "You go ahead down to the pitch in a bit. Lily and I have something to attend to first."

"Why did you tell him to go?" Lily hissed at Ari when Thomas left ten minutes later.

"Lily, if you make the team, you're going to have to fly in front of your friends sooner or later. Got your broom? Good, let's head down to the pitch!"

Lily felt nauseated. It wasn't so much her fear of flying in front of her friends than it was flying in front of her brother. What if Sirius turned his own sister down? What if Lily didn't live up to the Potter/Weasely reputation as a fabulous Quidditch player? Not only were Sirius, Robby, and Paul on the Gryffindor team, but also her cousin Kameron played Chaser and her cousin Catherine played Beater for the Raveclaws. Her cousin Connor even played Keeper for Slytherin.

None of Lily's other relatives had auditioned for Quidditch positions. Dana was too busy with her Charms Club and the incredibly intelligent though seemingly lazy Dane was the founder and highest-ranking member of the school's Mock Wizengamot club. Harriet was too young, and everyone else had no interest in trying out.

"I wonder what Sirius will say when he sees you there for tryouts," Ari was grinning. "Oh, the look on his face will be priceless! He doesn't even know that you can fly!"

"He knows I can fly, just not very well…" Lily suddenly went very pale.

"You can do this! It's in your blood!" Ari pat her best friend reassuringly on her shoulder.

They reached the Quidditch pitch. Lily hid her broom behind her back before heading down to the field. There was a small number of Gryffindor's and die-hard Quidditch fans from other houses sitting in the stands. Members of other teams were also there, most likely to scope out the competition. The Quidditch team for Gryffindor was assembled on the field.

Robby and Paul were running around with sticks, banging people on their arms and heads.

"I'm a Beater!" Lily heard Paul yell to a girl who was torn between laughing and yelling at him for hitting her head.

The two Chasers already on the team had shouldered their brooms and were standing on either side of Sirius, who was holding a clipboard. One was a fourth year named Abby Yardley, and the other was Tessa Oakes, a sixth year. Both had been on the team since their second year when the two previous Chasers—who were twin brother and sister—graduated.

"Will everyone trying out for the position of Chaser please come forward?" Sirius called out. He looked menacing, and his naturally handsome features only made him look even more superior then usual.

A gaggled of Gryffindors stepped forward. Lily went to the edge of the pitch, a few feet away from the small group of people auditioning for Keeper, including Paisley Jargon, Ethan Tremaine, and Jonathan Fleet.

"When I call your name, please mount your broom and fly into the air," Sirius called. He glanced down at his clipboard. "Darrel Partway, you're up first!"

Darrel Partway rose into the air. Sirius turned to his two Chasers and nodded at them. They mounted their brooms and rose after Darrel.

"I want to see how well you can handle the Quaffle and how well you work with Abby and Tessa. They will start off by passing you the Quaffle while you fly around the pitch—easy enough. Then when I blow my whistle, they will begin to fly into more difficult formations, and it will be up to you to follow continue passing the Quaffle," Sirius shouted up to the three Gryffindor's in the air.

Darrel Partway started out fine, but when Sirius blew his whistle he began to fumble with the Quaffle. He found it difficult to stay on his broom without holding onto the handle.

The next two Chasers were horrible, but the third Chaser was hilarious. It was a fourth sixth year boy who obviously thought that he was far better than he actually was. He had decided that when the formations became harder it was time to start showing off. He made elaborate dives and circles that nearly sent him flying into Abby and Tessa. He stood on his broom handle—though nobody was entirely sure why—and ran into a goal post. When he got the Quaffle, he refused to hold it under his arm or another suitable place, instead trying to balance it in one outstretched hand.

"Next!" Sirius bellowed. He had endured the agony of the sixth year long enough.

Three Chasers later and Sirius decided on Elliot Brett, a fifth year and friend of Sirius'. But in all fairness, Elliot had flown better than everyone else and was very good at making decisions on what to do next, based on where Abby and Tessa were positioned.

"And now, Keeper tryouts!" Sirius called. He glanced down at his list. With a jolt, Lily realized that Sirius had probably not even looked at the list yet, and had no idea that Lily had signed up.

"When I call your name, mount your brooms and fly over to the goalposts. The position of Keeper will be determined by who can block the most goals out of five tries from our three Chasers. First up is Ethan Tremaine!"

Ethan only blocked three goals, one of which earned him a broken nose when he blocked the Quaffle with his face accidentally. Jonathan Fleet was two Keepers later, and blocked three goals also. Paisley Jargon, who had to watch four people fly before her, blocked four goals. She was the first one to block so many, and everyone applauded her when she hit the ground.

Sirius grinned at Paisley. "Terrific job!" he said happily. Ethan Tremaine and Jonathan Fleet were shooting daggers at Paisley, and both looked very sour as they shouldered their brooms and headed into the stands to continue watching the tryouts.

Sirius glanced down at his clipboard, still grinning. "Up next is…" Sirius' eyes grew large, and a frown began to form on his face. He looked up from his clipboard and searched around until his eyes fell on Lily.

There was a mixture of anger and bewilderment on his face. As he stared at her, Robby and Paul came up behind him and looked over his shoulder.

"HA!" yelled Robby.

"Excellent!" Paul laughed. "Lily Potter, mount your broom!"

"I'm the Captain; I give the orders!" Sirius bellowed and jogged over to Lily. "What's the meaning of this?" he said softly. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, it's not!" Lily's voice quavered. She had never seen her brother look so angry with her before. "Honest!"

Sirius looked undecided. He shook his head and walked away from her, calling over his shoulder, "Fine, mount your broom."

As Lily rose into the air, she could see Robby and Paul grinning up at her. Sirius had folded his arms and now had a blank look on his face.

I can do this Lily thought to herself as she flew in front of the goalposts. The three Chasers began to fly towards her, passing the Quaffle between them.

Lily shut her eyes and imagined herself in Robby and Paul's garden, playing Quidditch with them. She quickly opened her eyes, suddenly braver. I can do this. Just watch, Sirius. I'll prove to you that I am just as good as you are.

The Quaffle flew towards her, and Lily calmly stretched out her hands and caught it neatly between them. Cheers rose from the stands. The next time, Lily barely had to move her broom to catch it. More cheers met her ears.

"The next one will be harder," Tessa said cheerfully as Lily threw her the Quaffle. "This is too easy for you!"

Indeed, the next one required Lily to swoop upward. Tessa was known for being able to curve a ball to make it almost impossible to tell whether it was going to go up or down. But nevertheless, Lily caught it in one hand.

The next one was even harder. Lily did not catch it in time, but was able to hit the tail of her broom against it and send it flying past the Chasers. "Nice save!" yelled Abby. "One more and you make the team!"

Lily began to feel nervous again. Abby and Tessa put all of their strength and skills into this last one. Lily swooped and turned her broom, trying to protect her goalposts, but Tessa and Abby were too good. Lily saw that the Quaffle was going to go through the goalpost farthest right, and she was in front of the one farther left.

A moment of inspiration dawned on her. Desperately, Lily threw herself almost entirely off of her broom, while keeping her right foot hooked under the handle so she could drag it behind her. She swung it underneath her and brought it to her hands. With all of her strength, she swung her broom at the Quaffle and hit it away from the goalpost. Her next move would have been to grab the goalpost and remount her broom, but Lily felt herself falling away from it. Still holding her broom, Lily brought it underneath her again and mounted it in the air as she fell towards the ground.

Huge cheers rose from the stands. Lily could hear Ari's high-pitched screams above everyone else, which sounded as if they belonged to a banshee.

"Nicely done!" Paul patted Lily's back as she landed.

"Yeah, it's about time you tried out! I bet you could've made Keeper your first year," Robby laughed. He leaned in towards Lily and whispered quietly, "Don't worry, you'll be Seeker once Sirius leaves."

"Congratulations, Lily," Sirius came up to his sister. Everyone quieted and looked at the Potter siblings. Sirius looked apologetic. "I had no idea…you could fly so well," he choked. "You're our new Keeper."

"AWWWW!!!!" Robby and Paul bellowed. And with that, they grabbed Lily's hands and began to dance around in a circle with her, singing, "Lily is the Keeper, Lily is the Keeper! Everyone else who tried out is upset, 'cause Lily blocked more goals than them!"

Ari came skipping up to Lily and gave her a huge hug. She took Lily's place with Robby and Paul and sang with them, "Lily Potter's our Keeper, Lily Potter's our Keeper. Slytherins, you best watch out, 'cause you'll never score AGAIN!"

Now, that was a fun little chapter! Well, I don't know about little. This chapter had almost 5,000 words! Though the last chapter came even closer. I guess I was wrong about liking shorter chapters, faster. The way I see it is, the longer the chapter, the less anxious someone who has added me to story alert or favorites will be. Now, you can enjoy more!

This chapter was delightful to write. I just had my big recital, and this, in a way, was Lily's recital. Except that my brother already knew that I was talented.

p.s. Just a warning: In the next chapter, I will be skipping days a lot instead of going from day-to-day. It would be a waste of time to explain what happens every single day, and I would much rather get to the important stuff than keep you waiting! But of course, it will be just as long, descriptive, and awesome as before.

PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!