Disclaimer: I once pretended to be J.K. Rowling online…but alas, I'm not her in real life. Therefore I don't own the famous scarhead…and I'm totally kidding about the online thing.
A/N: SQUUEELLLL...you guys are simply wonderful. Thanks a kazillion to: sunstone-dono, A. Fan, LyLMystikeLf, pigs can fly, TheHorcruxHunter, berniebotts, RAMEN DISASTER, reader, yellowxxxlilys, Cristipotter, mae garnder, grayx3eyedsoul, vintage bluejeans, -Jeisa-, Mrs Claire Potter, scribbles.pooksta, TwinkieTUTUS, lilbit18, MusicShoes, sophiascribbles, C San, soccerxpotterxlife, Bellas-lullaby, Princess Gillybean, Possibletanya, Lilah Aine, soccergurl1993, tin-tin456, Violin Ghost, PRONGS-and-LILY-forever, PrimaDi88, dollarbanks, coffee dessert, and MissMarauder4487.
Okay. So… Look up at that little date besides the word "update." Go ahead. Look. I'll give you a few seconds. Yep, that's right. Not only does the year suddenly read 2008, but it's been less than a week since my last update! Amazing, right? It's a real shocker. I started dancing around like a crazy woman when I finished chapter 19 (because not only is this the LONGEST chapter yet, but it's also the chapter you've all been waiting for). But then I started getting dizzy from dancing, so I sat back down and...
Guess what?
I busted out chapters 20, 21, and a bit of 22. Holy cow, right? So, it shouldn't take me a month to update from now on! AHHHH! Oh my gosh. My power just went out! AHHHH that was scary. How odd...well, we have been having bizzarro storms out here in California...maybe a tree fell down? I dunno. Gosh, that's reassuring.
Anyways, have fun reading while I go try to find some matches to light the candles in my room. (starts singing "Silent Night")
Oh, and, I think I said this last chapter, but Amelia and Lily are supposed to have the same last name! It's not a mistake.
Also, Oops, I made a mistake last chapter. Dorcas is Seeker NOT Chaser…my bad.
Musicshoes: Lily thinks it's bad to like James because of the bet because...well...it was a bet. Lily doesn't think he really likes her...she thinks he's just using her to win some money.
Recap from last chapter: Lily found out how Quidditch in incorporated into the bet, James told Amelia that she was not going to join the team again even though she brought her T's up to P's, and James and Lily had something close to a"heart-to-heart" moment.
Alright, now, I'll really shut my gab. Go delve into the adventure!
Chapter 19: Phase Six—Do it Like a Tipsy Cauldron
How had her life become like this? Seventh year was supposed to be her year. She had been made Head Girl, her teachers loved her and would most likely write for her a great recommendation for any job she wanted, and Potter had even started out as…Godric forbid…helpful. Nowhere in her plans had she said that she would fall for the Head Boy, Quidditch captain, prankster galore.
And now, to top it all off, she had an angry fifth year girl stalking her, trying to trip her up so that she'd break an arm—or some other bone that was vital for playing Beater.
"No magic in the hallways! Detention, Amelia," Lily shouted, picking herself up from the ground with as much dignity as she could muster under the given circumstances. An effectively placed tripping jinx had been waiting for her right outside her defense classroom, and Lily knew it wasn't just coincidence that Amelia Evans had been standing nearby.
The fifth year snorted as if detention was nothing compared to the satisfaction of watching Lily, the girl who'd taken her spot on the team, suffer from some snapped bones and slight humiliation. "Detention, like that's anything new," she chortled sarcastically.
Lily stood up straighter, readjusting the bag on her shoulder. "With Filch," Lily finished, smirking as Amelia's face dropped. Filch had the reputation of being the worst administrator in the whole entire castle to endure a detention with; it probably had something to do with how he always wished bodily harm on the unlucky student, usually threatening to hang the kid from the ceiling by the thumbs until they swore never to cause mayhem again.
Of course, Lily was certain that that was perfectly illegal and that the chains that were rumored to hang from the ceiling in the dungeons hadn't been used since the sixteenth century.
"An owl will be sent to you with the time of your detention," Lily told the girl whose hand twitched as if she were about to give the Head Girl the finger. Naturally—not wanting to risk a double night in the greasy, and incredibly creepy, caretaker's company—Amelia's shoulders slouched and she stalked away.
Lily sighed before crossing the threshold into the classroom.
"Well, I'd say you handled that well."
Surprised that anyone else had bothered to show up early, Lily jumped and looked around the room. James was leaning against the doorframe casually—Lily wondered how she hadn't seen him before—smiling at her. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, even though frost could be found on the grass outside, and his arms were crossed across his chest.
"Yeah, well, it'll be a miracle if I'm still alive come Saturday," Lily said, walking further into the room and then turning around to face James.
He pushed himself up off of the wall and approached her. "I'd watch your back if I were you," James said, winking at her, "I heard—from a reliable source—that she plans on slipping something into your drink."
Lily shoved him. "You liar."
"Sirius doesn't lie."
Lily snorted derisively, but did not speak. She felt silence conveyed everything she wanted to say on this particular point. Hoisting herself up on a desk, she checked her watch. They still had a good five minutes before class even began. "So, what are you doing here so early?"
James shrugged, grabbing her wrist and kissing her cheek. Lily didn't even blush this time; it had become natural to let James do this to her. "Saw you leave breakfast and decided to follow you."
Yeah, right. He'd gotten there before her. She peered at him suspiciously. "And yet you were here before I was…"
"Fine, guilty."
"You usually are."
They smiled at each other and James had just begun to lean in when someone coughed loudly from behind them. "Oi, break it up," Sirius interrupted, throwing his bag down onto his chair with Remus and Peter in tow.
The two separated; James ruffled his hair. "So…" Lily began, supposing that she should be grateful that Sirius had interrupted whatever had been about to happen.
"What?" James asked innocently.
"What were you doing here so early?"
Sirius snorted, no doubt having eavesdropped into the conversation. Remus glanced between the two Head students before resuming his conversation with Peter.
As more people began to enter, James pulled her aside and lowered his voice. "Promise you won't tell," he urged her, his hand mussing up his hair again—hmm, maybe it was a nervous habit. He seemed to be doing it a lot lately.
Something dropped in Lily's stomach as she watched James anxious antics. What had happened? "Yeah, sure."
James glanced around at the class once more before pulling Lily even closer and saying. "I need extra credit."
Excuse me? Lily's eyes practically bugged out of her head. He'd gone through all the trouble, and had actually caused her to worry, just for that? All it meant was the he cared about his studies! What was wrong with that? Nevertheless, it was sort of…cute. "Extra credit?" she repeated.
"…yes."
"You prat," she exclaimed, slapping him on the arm.
Their professor entered the room and James dragged Lily back to the other side of the room where their friends were located. "Hey," he told her in an undertone as he took his seat, "I do have a reputation to live up to."
"Yeah, a mucked up one," she countered, pulling out her quill and textbook.
"At least I'm not the one that has Amelia Evans trying to kill me."
Lily glared at him. "She tried to push you into that trick step yesterday."
"That was sign of affection."
"I tried doing that at least five times in fifth year," Lily responded as their teacher began writing notes up on the board.
"Like I said, sign of affection."
He grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and turned her face away from his, clearly telling him that she was not going to talk to him any further. As she monotonously copied down their professor's lecture, Lily decided that she liked how she and James could still be in a relationship of some sorts and still bicker about the most idiotic things.
It was fun, and she liked it.
OO
The day running up to the match was intense to say the least. Seeing as Lily never had to have dealt with this type of sabotage before, it was scarily intimidating. It was only ten o'clock in the morning on Friday and already Lily had survived three tripping jinxes which had been placed rather strategically throughout the castle (Amelia had received two more detentions for trying to damage the Head Girl), had ignored the jeers and cries from the green supporters, and had successfully stayed away from her drink at breakfast—just in case Black had been right and Amelia had spiked it with something.
It was safe to say that Hogwarts had erupted into chaos, or more so than what was normal. The Slytherins had been even more rambunctious than usual and had broken into the school broom shed and taken all of the Gryffindor brooms as hostages. Luckily McGonagall had caught them smuggling them back in while the rest of the school had been eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Rumor was that the culprits of the attack—three sixth years and two fifth—had been yelled at for ten consecutive minutes by the strict deputy headmistress and had even been banned from attending the game the next morning. Not to mention, of course, the complimentary two weeks of detention.
"Thickheads," Sirius had muttered darkly after the rumor had spread around the school, "if they had been smart, they would have levitated the brooms from outside into the castle."
Lily didn't bother asking how Sirius had this ready-made plan formed inside of that head of his.
Meanwhile, Sirius, Remus, and Peter never left James's side. Because he was captain, it was only natural to believe that he'd be a common first target. The three formed a circle around their mate all day, following him everywhere, their wands out and ready. The rest of Gryffindor's team had their respected friends' support too, and Marlene and Alice had taken it upon themselves to be Dorcas's and Lily's personal body guards. They even went into the bloody loo with them, but seeing as girls usually went to the bathroom in packs, it wasn't that odd. However, when the four girls caught the Marauders all exiting the boys' toilet together, they couldn't help but think about blackmail. It was weird that before she was actually on the team, Lily had never noticed all of the hype before a game.
So, needless to say, Friday wasn't the best of days for Lily Evans. Besides the death threats, the death attempts, and death wishes—pretty much anything to do with death in general—Lily also had the thought of James Potter hovering above her head, like the pesky poltergeist, Peeves, who would constantly pelt ink pellets and water balloons at students' heads. Every smile James shot her way, every reassuring sentence, every touch of his hand sent her into a panic attack. Well, maybe panic attack was the wrong idea…she liked how he made her feel, which made it so much harder to think about kicking him to the curb. The more time they spent together, the more she began to believe he liked her, and the more she didn't want to break this up.
It would be satisfaction enough to see Black lose…
…Perhaps she should let him win…
After all, no one was that good of an actor.
OO
"Outta the way, move it," Sirius bellowed, shooing people out of his path. A few brave third year Slytherins hissed insults at the group as they passed.
"Is this really necessary, Padfoot?" James asked. The bottom of his cloak flew up slightly as two Ravenclaws rushed past, most likely late for their lesson. Nerds, he couldn't help but think, well, they are in Ravenclaw where 'wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure.' He quickly shifted to his left slightly as one of them nearly stepped on the hem of his shield—preferably referred to as his cloak of disguise. It wouldn't be so good if they saw James Potter suddenly appear out of thin air like an apparition or something.
Yes, it was true. Sirius had made James wear his Invisibility Cloak in the hallways; well, more like forced the thing over his mate's head while threatening to use a permanently sticking charm on it to make sure it couldn't be removed. Needless to say, James hadn't had much say in the matter. Padfoot had almost forced him to wear it during classes as well, but that's where James had, quite bravely, put his foot down.
Well, except for Potions earlier that afternoon; Snape, Avery, and Mulciber were all in that class too (how exactly they had the brains to be in a N.E.W.T. potions class—or any N.E.W.T. class, come to think of it—was beyond James's brain capacity) and, really, it hadn't been like James had skived off the lesson. Being Head Boy that was a big no-no, not to mention Lily would have castrated him. He had been in the classroom…just invisibly. The Marauders had found it quite entertaining when Slughorn had taken roll call and a disembodied voice had answered "here."
"Maybe we are taking this to an extreme," Peter piped up as Sirius went around a corner first to make sure the coast was clear; James's opinion of Wormtail soared dramatically.
"Prongs, do you want to die?" Sirius asked in response to James's, and now Peter's, complaint about the cloak, completely ignoring Wormy, who 'humphed' in protest.
"That's not really the point –"
"Well, do you?"
"C'mon, Padf –"
"Do you?" he emphasized.
"Well, no, but I—"
"Then quit complaining, you wanker," he responded, sweeping his dark hair from his eyes.
"I would have thought," Remus began coyly from James's right, "that you would want Prongs to miss out on the game, what with all of the gold and dignity weighing on the sport."
Sirius pretended to be highly affronted. He placed his hand on his heart and glanced back at Moony. "What kind of person do you think I am?" he said incredulously. "Prongs is my best mate and I would never wish death upon him."
"Thanks for that, Pads," James responded from under the cloak. A fourth year Gryffindor looked wildly around…he had heard the Head Boy's voice, but the bloke was nowhere to be seen…nevertheless, the kid hid his fanged Frisbee behind his back as he passed.
The undercover dog reached out and patted what he thought to be James's left shoulder. A couple of first years began giggling as Sirius appeared to be patting nothing but thin air. "I'm here for you, mate," he said, ignoring the staring midgets. "Besides, I have full confidence that Prongs will lose."
Hidden underneath his silvery cloth, James bristled, indignant. Although he loved Sirius, his best mate could be so inconsiderate sometimes. Merlin, he even had him thinking like a bloody girl, talking about feelings. "You sure do know how to bring a guy up," James said sarcastically, sticking out an invisible foot and causing Sirius to stumble.
"Isn't it kind of wrong to be rooting for Slytherin?" Peter asked, holding the door to the library open. Once inside James ripped off his cloak—after making sure no one else was watching of course—and stuffed it into his bag. Surely no Slytherins would be in the library today—they hardly ever went into it at all. That's why the Marauders had picked this specific spot as their safe haven.
"Gryffindor through and through?" Remus questioned further, a slight smirk flickering across his face.
"My eternal partners in crime, I am not cheering Slytherin on; merely, I'm hoping that some bad luck befalls upon my young prodigy, here," Sirius explained, putting his arm around James and slapping his back affectionately.
They all took a seat at the very back of the library. "Same difference, Padfoot," James mumbled.
"Aw, don't be such a sodding poor sport," Sirius countered.
Peter rolled his eyes, propping his feet up onto the table in an attempt to appear cool. "It amazes me that you go through such lengths just to win five galleons," he began, rocking his chair on its two back legs. The chair wobbled and Peter almost lost his balance.
"Like you need money anyways," Remus continued as Peter put all four of his chair's legs back onto the floor. "Didn't your great uncle just leave you a whole vault of gold?"
"Yeah, but we all know Padfoot, here, is saving it up to buy that Muggle motorbike," James smirked.
Sirius rubbed his hands together in glee, as if he were planning something highly entertaining and devious. "Oh, that will drive my dear parents mad. Their Pureblood son riding around on a Muggle contraption…I can hear the Howler now," he chuckled, as if he were laughing at his own personal joke. "Although, they might like it if I got it to fly…but anyway, every knut counts!" Sirius placed his hands behind his head and attempted to lean back in his chair just like Peter had done earlier. Ironically, Sirius had much more cool. Perhaps it was the casual elegance of his hair. "They've probably already destroyed my Muggle infested bedroom," he added as an afterthought.
The four boys chuckled, knowing that Sirius had done everything in his power to annoy the robes off of his parents whilst he had lived under their roof: the non-Wizard pictures of Muggle bikini-clad girls, the Gryffindor colors that hung from every inch of wall space, and the pictures of the four of them—James was surprised that his best mate's parents hadn't suffered from a cardiac arrest really.
"But, back to the point," Sirius commenced, staring at James, "Evans has been onto you."
A book suddenly fell from the bookshelf behind them, causing the four of them to jump. Sirius whipped out his wand, ready to hex the eaves-dropper (potentially a good for nothing Slytherin). James rolled his eyes. Honestly, it was just Quidditch. This happened every time there was a game, and ever since third year his friends had taken it as their sole responsibility to protect James at all costs. Really, they should be used to this by now. James wasn't nearly as paranoid as his friends.
"I know," James sighed, choosing to ignore the mysterious falling book as he responded to his friend's thoughts on Evans, "she's so bloody annoying."
His eyes still trained on the offensive bookshelf, Sirius spun his wand menacingly between his fingertips. "Well, you'll be shot of her soon enough."
"But I need to win this year—not saying that Evans is bad mind you," James pointed out. Something red caught his eye and James focused on it. He watched as Lily Evans strode out of the library, books held to her chest and her head held high.
"She's just not as good as Amelia," Remus suggested wisely, nodding.
James looked at Remus. "Exactly."
They all jumped as Sirius clapped his hands together joyfully, creating a surprisingly loud sound that echoed off the surrounding bookshelves. "And that, my friends, is where Prongs' problem lies…you better not have spent all of your money last Hogsmeade trip, because I'm expecting five galleons tomorrow."
Smirking, James pushed the legs of Sirius's chair with his feet, causing it and Sirius to tumble to the floor. Sirius swore, James laughed, Peter made sure he was alright, and Remus cowered as the librarian began shrieking about disruptive behavior and how it was not acceptable in her part of the castle.
OO
Now, Lily was having a panic attack. Her breathing was uneven, her hair was a mess, and her fist was clutching that bloody Quidditch card so tightly that it was beginning to cut into her hand. The pain didn't really register and she didn't even really notice that she was accidentally self-mutilating herself until Dorcas said very calmly, "Lily, you're bleeding."
Her emerald eyes shot up and her chest heaved with much more force than she could ever imagine it having done so before. "I. Hate. James. Potter."
Loathing so incredible was pulsing through Lily; James had finally turned her loopy. Here she was, usually such a calm, collected type of girl—maybe a little bit temperamental at times, but regardless!—and now she was practically cutting herself with a blunt piece of laminated plastic. It had always been a matter of time, really, until Potter drove her to the mad house! And to think she had actually believed that she liked him…that he had begun to fancy her.
Preposterous!
James couldn't wait to get rid of her. The little conversation between Black and Potter had made that much pretty obvious. Not saying that Evans is bad, mind you. Argh, that conniving, perverted, evil little…Quidditch player! What did that mean? That he didn't mind having her around because of her body? Her lips? Her what? Merlin! He was so…he was so…egotistical!
I.
Hate.
James.
Potter.
"Look, Lily, breathe," Marlene insisted, rubbing the redhead's back soothingly. Lily scoffed. "Come on, now, you've got the upper hand."
"The upper hand? The upper hand?" Lily repeated wildly. "Bloody Potter has had the upper hand the whole time! I've just had…the lower hand!"
Great, Potter had successfully ruined her brain process too.
"Maybe Marlene is right, Lily," Alice said timidly from the corner. Lily spun her head so quickly that everyone in the dorm winced as something cracked. How dare Alice—how dare Marlene—they didn't know what she was going through! They didn't know that she had fallen for James Potter! For Godric's sake, she did not have the bleeding upper hand at anything.
"Take this out on him," Dorcas added softly, "play brilliantly tomorrow. Show him what you're made of."
Lily's chest continued to heave violently, her jaw tight. However, her grip around his gift that he'd given her loosened. First the pinky…then the index finger…With a tingling clatter it fell to the floor. Her friends watched it teeter before falling flat and lying still.
"You know what you have to do—you know what you want to do," Marlene commented, tapping Lily's hand with her wand, causing the small slash in her palm to heal.
"Ring Potter's neck until he can't—" Lily made brutal motions with her hands.
Alice walked away from her corner slowly. Lily stared. Had she really scared her friends that much? Reducing them to hide in shady corners? This was all the illegal stag's fault! Stupid stags…she knew she hated those dumb creatures. How she wished she could just…be done with him!
"Phase six," Alice stated shortly.
Phase…? Lily's tense body slowly began to ease. Hadn't this been the plan from the start? To get revenge on James Potter? It had to be some sort of sign that at the moment she was planning to allow him to win, he went and blew it, causing her to want to hurt him once more.
That's how it always seemed to go with her and Potter.
Besides, with phase six, she'd finally be able to end this.
"It's cauldron time," Lily said slightly menacingly, bending down and picking up the fallen Quidditch gift card.
Her friends looked at her like she was crazy. Merlin, she was alright now! What she had said had made perfect sense, thanks very much!
"Er…what?" Marlene asked.
"Dump him, you know, like when you dump your potion when you're done with it," Lily explained. Honestly, her friends were so slow sometimes…
Glances went around the room. "Right…are you sure you're okay?" Alice asked worriedly, afraid for her friend's mental health.
Great, just another thing to add to her list of reasons she hated James Potter; he'd made her friends believe that she was some insane woman who blabbered on about cauldrons.
"Yeah, because we've got a game tomorrow and a group of Slytherins to crush," Dorcas broke in.
Quidditch…Saturday…Potter.
"Never better," Lily responded and she placed the Quidditch card securely in her robes quite calmly.
OO
"Alright, so, this is our second match of the year, and though it may not seem important, it is. This match determines who goes into the semi-finals against Hufflepuff, one step closer to that Quidditch cup."
The team cheered enthusiastically. Lily sat in between Dorcas and Robbie on one of the team benches. Like the rest of the team, she was staring up at James, their captain. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but other than that she gave no indication that she was upset, or angry, or a raving mad lunatic. The sounds of the rest of the school making their way to the pitch could be heard outside of their tent. Students were talking merrily about who they thought would win the match.
The majority of the bet was on Gryffindor.
No pressure or anything.
Besides, if Lily wanted to go through with phase six, like she planned, then they had to win. There was no other choice.
"Now, Ravenclaw has already been booted out of the running. If we beat Slytherin today, getting into the finals will be a synch, considering Hufflepuff hasn't changed their lineup since my fifth year, and we've beaten them every year."
Everyone cheered again, though James wasn't done yet.
"Now, we've got a wonderful Keeper who hasn't failed us yet," James was saying as he pointed to Daniel Sparks, who grinned abashed. "Our Seeker never fails to spot the Snitch," Dorcas smiled proudly, "We Chasers work together better than any other team, as for the Beaters…I know we've had a bit of rough spot, but I have full confidence that Evans and Botley will play brilliantly…"
Yeah, Lily thought, because I'll be imagining the Bludger as your head! James looked over at her and she smiled sweetly back up at him. Take that you completely not handsome nor muscular Chaser!
A shrill whistle blew outside of the changing rooms and the excitement level immediately increased. Lily knew that her blind hatred for her captain was the sole reason for her lack of nerves. That could only be a good thing.
"Good luck, team!" James called, shouldering his broom as he began to lead his team out onto the field.
Bloody broom…stupid Potter has to have the best broom…and no, he totally does not look good in his idiotic Quidditch gear!
The team stepped onto the pitch.
It was as if someone had put her into a trance. Though she could see that the crowd was cheering wildly—or hissing when it came to the Slytherin section—Lily was immune to it. It was like someone had hit the mute button on her Muggle television set back at home. She watched as James (imbecile Potter!) squared off against the Slytherin captain—Mulciber—and clenched the bloke's hand. They glared daggers at each other before Madame Hooch forced the two to separate.
Still no sound. She knew things were bad when she wished for a Slytherin to crush a Gryffindor's fingers...
"Players, mount your broom."
All fourteen of the players straddled their broomsticks. The wood rubbed familiarly against her inner thigh. Suddenly, Lily's nerves caught back up with her. She was going to be sick. She just knew it. How would that be for a start off? Lily Evans, the newbie and Head Girl, blowing chunks all over the pitch?
Pleasant.
Madame Hooch brought her whistle to her lips with one hand while the other hand got ready to unlatch the crate where the balls resided. In that split second before the balls were released, James looked back at Lily and nodded. Maybe he had noticed that her face was slightly green because he grinned shortly and winked.
Lily didn't respond. Instead, she tried to clear her head of bad thoughts about falling fifty feet to her death.
"Let the game…begin!"
Lily felt Mary Macdonald rush past her, racing for the Quaffle that had been thrown up into the air by Hooch. Raising her bat, Lily rose higher as well. To her left she spotted James calling for Mary to pass to him; to her right Dorcas was tailing Regulus Black, the rather small and new Slytherin Seeker.
"And they're off," Sirius called from the commentating podium. "Place your wagers, mates, because this game has just begun! And it's Macdonald with the Quaffle…passes it to Potter…ohhh, intercepted by Shimps…rotten luck mate—" Though Lily thought that Sirius didn't sound that disappointed at all.
He wants us to lose. We have to win…we have to win.
It was just like practice, Lily kept reminding herself as she tore after a Bludger that was following Dorcas too closely for her liking. A few feet below her Mark Botley hit the other magical ball, which caused Shimps to drop the Quaffle.
"Nice Beater work by Botley…Robbie tears down the pitch with the Quaffle…passes it to Prong—I mean Potter. Score! And that's ten-nil to Gryffindor. Come on Slytherin, where's your game?"
Lily, by now, had ridden up alongside the offending Bludger that had been trailing Dorcas. Her first encounter with the evil little bugger…well in a game, anyways. She swung her bat backwards and—WHAM!—hit it with all of her might.
"Thanks, Lily!" Dorcas cried.
Smiling proudly, Lily looked for the next thing she could hit. It was rather empowering. Unfortunately for her, she realized too late that the Bludger she had hit away from Dorcas had been sent straight into the path of Mary. Lily winced as the ball hit the tail-end of Mary's broom, spinning her out of control for a few seconds, the red ball flying from her hands.
"And that was Evans—the new player on the team! Thanks, Evans," Sirius called, tipping his imaginary hat off to her. "And it's Nott with the Quaffle."
Lily swore to herself as the supporters clad in green began cheering wildly, like a huge surge of noise.
"Ten-ten. It's a tied match!"
Thirty minutes later, the score was in Gryffindor's favor again but just barely. Eighty-sixty. The Snitch had only been spotted once, but Lily had sent a Bludger flying, knocking the Slytherin Seeker—who'd been in the lead—off course. The Snitch had since disappeared. On the plus side, Lily was playing better and better and Gryffindor was currently in the lead.
That had to be a good sign, right?
Wrong. Ten minutes later, Slytherin was in the lead by ten points and Lily had just missed being clobbered by a Bludger that she had meant to hit in the opposing direction.
Twenty minutes later and the whole stadium could be found on their feet, watching the two opposing Seeker's ardently. Though she desperately wanted to see what was going on, the play didn't stop for the team members, so Lily was forced to listen to Black's two-faced commentary for updates on the Snitch chase.
"Meadowes is pulling ahead…flutter, flutter Snitch! Little Reggy is right behind her…come on push that broom, push that broom!"
Black didn't make it clear if he was rooting for Dorcas or the Slytherin Seeker, which happened to be his brother. The audience just assumed that he was going for Dorcas because she belonged to Gryffindor. Not to mention the clear animosity between the two brothers. Lily however knew that he was most likely urging Regulus on…weird, really weird. Black couldn't stand his family. Merlin, they took their bets too far…
Come on, Dorcas, come onshe urged as she continued to hunt the skies for two balls whose goal was to hit people. Go, go, goIt all came down to this. The match was so close…
And then, suddenly, just as Lily had stopped Mulciber from scoring, a noise so loud nearly blew her backwards off her broom.
"Gryffindor wins, 300-170" Sirius announced, with a lot less of his gusto than normal.
The Gryffindor spectators were going nuts, throwing their scarves up into the air, or waving them around like a banner. Slytherin was booing loudly, but were unable to overcome the cheers of the three other houses.
"We won!"
Someone collided into Lily, their brooms smashing together in a heap as they descended to the ground. Lily's face was masked by a mass of blonde curls; Dorcas had rammed into her. Lily grinned secretly at her friend as Dorcas practically pulled Lily off of her broom once they'd hit ground. Still clutched tightly in her friend's hand was the golden Snitch, its wings fluttering helplessly.
Relief flooded through Lily. They had won. She had done it. Dorcas had done it.
"Lily!"
Potter had done it.
James picked her up and spun her around. "We're going to the semi-finals!" he shouted. Then, amidst all of the people—for most of the school had flooded the pitch—he set her down and kissed her hard on the mouth. She could practically feel Dorcas's eyes burning into her back, wondering what she was going to do.
Holy Merlin…I'm about to break up with him!
She placed her hand on the back of his neck and kissed him back.
It was odd how stuff like that happened. And it wasn't that she was no longer mad at him. No, on the contrary she was furious; furious with him for stringing her along, making her think that she actually mattered to him; mad that he had even made the bet in the first place; she was angry with herself for allowing her to fall into that stupid trap. But most off all she was infuriated with the fact that she didn't know why she was still standing there wrapped up in his arms.
Wolf whistles—thanks to Black—met them as James pulled back, grinning. His hair was windswept and his cheeks were pink with cold. She cocked her head to the side; he looked—
Stop, brain! Stop! He's despicable.
Marlene and Alice, having pushed their way through the crowd, each touched Lily quickly on the shoulder as Dorcas continued to stare at Lily gently. She nodded back, indicating that she was alright.
After all, she did hate him.
OO
The music was pumping and when the team entered—James's hand intertwined with Lily's—everyone assembled there cheered. There were many 'congratulations' and 'well done's' exchanged as butterbeer was passed around. Sirius, Remus, and Peter approached James and Lily.
"Who would have thought," Sirius said, shrugging and pulling a face that looked like something between a grimace and a grin.
"You were good, Lily," Remus complimented, smiling.
She knew she had always liked Remus best…well, when he wasn't interrogating her about whether or not she'd told anybody about his 'furry little problem' that is.
Nodding, Lily said, "Thanks."
James pulled her closer and Lily glanced at him quickly. There was a slight gleam to his hazel eyes, as if he was holding a secret with himself. "Excuse us, mates," he said to his fellow Marauders, setting down the bottle of butterbeer someone had shoved into his hand. "Let's dance," he added, leading Lily towards the dance floor without giving her time to respond.
It reminded her of earlier that year, after the first match, when James had pulled her onto the very same spot. He had urged her to dance with him then; she had blown him off. Back then he had repulsed her…well, she guessed he still kind of did.
No, he most definitely did.
As they bypassed the three boys, Sirius quickly reached his hand into his pocket and withdrew a couple things from it. Lily could have sworn she saw a glint of gold. As James pulled Lily by the hand, Sirius shoved the stuff from his pocket into James's free one, muttering about luck. She swore she heard Black mumble, "down payment" into James's ear as well.
If Lily hadn't of known about the bet, she wouldn't have caught it for it was done so subtly. In one quick moment, James had successfully stuffed the money into his pocket while still maintaining a firm grip on Lily. Sirius had just handed over the winnings to James—or, more technically, a 'down payment.' Did he just assume that, because of the kiss on the Quidditch pitch, they were together? Or maybe he thought there was no way Lily would say no, seeing as she and his best mate had gotten pretty close.
A bubble of anger burst and it was hard not to shy away when James placed his hand on her waist. It took even more will-power to put her arms around his neck.
"Lily," he began, wasting no time—psh, why did he care? He already had the gold. He could take all the time in the world if he wanted to. "I've wanted to ask you this for some time now…"
Over his shoulder, Lily could see her three friends eyeing her wearily. Once they saw the she was looking at them, however, they gave her a thumbs up.
This was it.
"…well, I mean, I've asked you a couple times before, but I think now—"
She didn't know where she got her courage from (well, she could have blamed it on the cliché 'Gryffindor courage…where dwell the brave at heart' but that seemed somewhat pathetic). As she watched him she couldn't believe that she'd actually fallen for his charm, especially since she had known all along that this had just been a bet to him! Her confidence rose, as did her anger. This is what the past few months had led up to.
"James…you're rambling again," she pointed out.
He grinned at her and spun her around his arm. Her heart was pounding against her chest. "Go out with me, Lily?" he asked her quietly.
His eyes were shining brightly—no doubt with the prospect of winning in mind—when Lily dropped her arms from his neck. "No."
The spark in his eyes was still there, though the smile that had been present was slowly slipping away. "W-what?" he stuttered.
The music was still blasting, and everyone was having too much of a good time to realize that their Quidditch star was being denied by his Beater.
"No, Potter," she said again, taking a step back from him.
He was shaking his head in disbelief. "Are you joking?" he asked her seriously his voice a bit squeakier than normal.
Ha. You lost, Potter.
In response, she reached into her robes and pulled out the card he'd given her. "Here," she handed it to him and he clasped it in his sweaty palms. "I don't want it." He was trying hard not to gape at her.
'Are you joking?'Merlin, the boy was so arrogant that he hadn't even thought of the prospect of her saying no. And there was the James Potter that she loved to dislike. That's what made this so great…Right?
James looked like he wanted to punch something, much like Amelia Evans looked like now glaring at Lily from across the room because the redhead had actually played well. Lily watched as his jaw tightened dangerously and his hands closed around the card.
"Fine," he said shortly.
Lily scoffed and crossed her arms. That's all he had to say? Well, she supposed that since he really didn't care for her he wasn't going to beg her to stay, though she had expected a bigger fight to go down. He was going to accept his loss just like that?
His eyes made a weird, rapid movement as he looked to either side of him, and without another word he walked away, back towards his friends where he'd most likely have to give Sirius back his money and then hand over five galleons of his own. Everything had turned out how it was meant to.
Hadn't it?
As soon as he was hidden behind the dancing bodies of the party, Lily's shoulders dropped and she sighed heavily. It was over. For some reason, this didn't have the same type of satisfaction that Lily had imagined.
Wow. I have a feeling people are gonna shout at me after this chapter...well, I'm gonna go find some candles, flashlights, food, and...hmmm...whatever else I need to survive in the pitch black.
Hopefully I'll see you all in a week or so. Thanks again to Sunny. Go on, give her a wave!
Next chapter: Things start to go back to normal, including James and Lily going at each other's throats, we have an encounter with our favorite werewolf, and detentions are handed around...ohhh what fun.
--HeyLookTheSnitch
PS—Just realized I can't post this while my power is out…power outage means internet outage. I'll post this once my power comes back on…which will hopefully be soon…jeezum.