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Chapter 14. Quidditch Meeting…or is it?

Saturday arrived surprisingly fast for James. He woke up early that morning to get ready for the Quidditch meeting with the team; however, when he was trying to find a pair of pants, he seemed to trip over everything in his path. To James's dismay, there was a painting of a landscape in his room that was currently occupied by a previous Head boy who started to laugh hysterically at James's humiliation.

James scowled at the picture, silencing the portrait of the boy. As the portrait left the painting in his room, James could have sworn that he called him a loser.

"Arh, its way too early to be laughed at by a bloody picture…" he moaned as he put on his newly acquired pants. Once dressed in his practice robes, he headed out to the field.

When James got to the Quidditch field, he was surprised to see so many people. He looked through the crowd of boys and girls hoping to find Greg or someone else that had been on the Quidditch team the year before.

"What's going on here?" he mumbled to himself. He noticed a line going towards the locker rooms so he followed it.

"Ah, James! There you are! We were wondering when you would arrive!!" said Gregory Thomas as James reached the beginning of the line.

"What's going on here? I thought we were only going to have a meeting?!" James asked. There was a 5th year Gryffindor girl writing down people's names at the front of the line.

"Didn't you hear the announcements or see the signs in the Gryffindor common room earlier this week?" Greg asked with a polite smile. "McGonagall had forgotten that a lot of the players from last year had graduated, so she assigned me to have try-outs! We need one Chaser, a Seeker, a Keeper, and a Beater," he said, counting all the players they needed with his fingers.

"Uh…well I don't live in Gryffindor common room anymore, don't you remember?" said James in annoyance. He didn't like not being informed about things that involved Quidditch.

"Hmm…oh well, at least you're here now. We're going to need you to help judge our contestants for the Chaser position," Greg said cheerily.

"Wha-? Now?!"

"Yes, yes, of course right now…" Greg paused for a moment, "or at least after we sign everybody up," he said after taking a look at the never-ending line of people waiting to sign up. "I'm not even sure all these people are in Gryffindor," he added shortly afterward, scratching his head.

"And who's going to judge for the other positions?" James asked, ignoring the captain's comment.

"That will be left to me judging for Seeker, Alexandria Spence for the Beater, and Clementine Grapestien for Keeper. Ah, but remember that you'll still have to keep an eye out for the others trying out on different positions because in the end we'll tally up votes to see who'll be on the team."

James nodded at Greg, approving of his choice for judges and his process for the try-outs. All these people that Greg had mentioned had been on the lineup in previous years, so James was confident they would pick the best people for their team.

"Everything alright then, James?" he asked not even pausing to let James answer, "Great! We'll start as soon as possible so don't leave or anything," Greg instructed in an almost stern voice.

"Yeah, sure. I'll just be flying around on my broom for a while. You wouldn't mind, now would you?" James asked, making his way inside the locker rooms to get his broom before Greg had any say in the matter.

"No, by all means, go practice," said the captain dismissively; he was now looking at the list the 5th year girl had been making.

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James flew around the field for a while, somewhat showing off his moves to all those who were trying out. He couldn't help it. He loved the sound of the people as they gasped and shouted as he performed acrobatic stunts. He was just about to get into his more impressive aerial tricks when a voice shouted up at him.

"Stop showing off, Potter! I could do better tricks than that!" said the voice playfully.

James looked down from the sky to see a long-haired, blonde person leaning casually on a broomstick. He flew down a little bit closer to the ground to get a better look at the person who had made the comment. He was about to challenge the person until he realized who it was.

It was Gwen, staring straight up at him with a small grin.

Giving out a laugh at her comment, James flew down, landed and went up to Gwen.

"What's this about you flying better than me?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a large smirk.

"You heard me. I could certainly fly better than you," she retorted smugly, one of her hands resting casually on her hip.

The messy haired boy only looked at her, almost ready to burst out laughing.

"You're funny Gwen. Never have I seen you fly. What makes you think you can even keep your balance up there during the game" he said mockingly. "Besides, what position are you gonna try out for anyway," he asked afterwards.

"You're a real git, you know?" she insulted; but a pretty smile played on her lips as she watched James eye her with incredulity. "Oh wait, of course you knew that already, Lily reminds you everyday, but that's beside the point. And for your information, I'm quite skilled at flying since I've been doing it for as long as I can remember," she said. "As for the position I'm trying out for, that's none of your business."

She quickly turned her back on him and walked up to the now disappearing line so that she could sign up. James only shook his head at her, and went back to flying.

"What do you say about these invitations, Liz?" Lily asked. Lily and Elizabeth were sitting near the lake, with their feet in the water, looking through party catalogs that Professor McGonagall had given them. In the distance, the giant squid squirted water at unsuspecting 1st and 2nd years.

Lily had a whole bunch of things to do, but only a few weeks to do it. It was the start of October and the days were beginning to get ever so chilly as the nights brought gusts of wind and chances of rain.

"Yes, they look perfect. But why not look at these as well?" Liz suggested, pointing to a picture with a different invitations. The catalog was a magic one, so every time the girls would point at a photo with their wands, it would pop out of the paper in a 3D image and rotate to let them get better look at it.

"Ah yes! That one's lovely!" Lily exclaimed in the end. "We'll use these for the ball. They're elegant and fun!"

Elizabeth looked proudly as Lily complemented on her choice, while splashing the water lightly with her toes. The first and second year students were now throwing rocks at the squid.

"Ok, so now what do we need to do? Have you already set a time?"

"Um…I was thinking that we should start it at 7p.m and then let the party last till midnight," the redhead pondered, chewing the end of her quill as she thought.

"I suppose that would be good. And what are you going to put on the invitations?"

"I was thinking that instead of making the ball a plain old formal one, why not tell everyone that they could wear formal muggle attire if they wished," Lily blushed. In all reality, she had hoped to have it more muggle-like because there was a dress her mother had owned and she hoped to wear it.

"Wow, that sounds interesting. What do you think you'll wear?" Liz asked curiously.

"Ah, I um…plan to wear an old dress my mum had worn when she was younger. She had been in a play and it was a beautiful dress that I've always admired," she sighed dreamily, thinking about the gorgeous gown.

"Oh that sounds wonderful. By the way you're planning this event, it almost sounds as if you want it to be like some fancy thing in those muggle fairy tales," Liz said lightly. She stayed quiet for a while and then said, "I like it. This is certainly going to be very fun."

"Heh, I guess you're right, it does kinda sound like a fairy tale ball," Lily smiled at her friend.

"Anyway, let's look through some other catalogs to find more things. I think we might even have to put some catalogs up for the people who don't have a mask and need to buy one…"Liz suggested once again.

"Yes, let's get to work! It seems as if you're on a roll of giving me ideas," Lily said happily. Liz smiled and grabbed another catalog. The squid was now throwing back the rocks to the 1st and 2nd year students, there was a loud BONK as one of them got hit on the head.

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The girls continued their search for other items until it was late in the afternoon. It had started to get too windy for them to keep all their papers together so they decided to make their way to the Great Hall.

Lily and Liz had just reached the door to go inside the school when they heard someone call out their names.

"Lily! Liz!" Lily turned to see Gwen running towards them.

She had a huge smile on her face as she ran up the steps to catch up to them.

"Where were you?!" Lily asked, her hands resting on her hips, looking at Gwen as if she was a child who had gotten lost at the mall.

"Liz! You didn't tell her?!!" Gwen asked with slight disappointment.

"Oh, sorry, Gwen. I forgot," Liz replied ashamed of her own forgetfulness.

"Aw, well that's alright. I think I'd want to tell her myself…Lily! Guess what!!!" Gwen shouted suddenly, catching Lily off guard, making her jump up slightly.

"What, Gwen?! Tell me!" shouted Lily impatiently, but still curious as to what her friend had to say. She hated guessing games.

"I tried out for the Quidditch team today!!!" said the blonde animatedly.

"Really? What happened?! DID YOU MAKE IT?!!" Lily asked in a rush. She then realized that she didn't know what position Gwen played. "What position did you try out for anyway?" she asked sheepishly, knowing that Gwen would be upset by such a question.

"LILY! I can't believe you! Do you not know me at all?" said Gwen, a little hurt and outraged. Quidditch was one of Gwen's favorite past times, how could Lily forget such a thing?

"I'm sorry, Gwen. But really, how did it turn out? Did you make it or not?"

"Umm…well I dunno yet. They said they wouldn't give us the results until after dinner, tonight," said Gwen, absolutely ruining her best friends' excitement for Gwen.

"Wha-? Then what was all that shouting and running about?" Liz asked confusedly.

"I just wanted you guys to wait for me so that we could go to our dorms together," Gwen replied flatly. Lily shook her head disbelievingly.

"Alright then let's go inside already. I'm tired of being out here," Liz said in a bored manner before she pulled opened the door to the Great Hall.

"I am so bloody tired!" said James, busting dramatically through the Gryffindor boy's dormitory. There, lounging comfortably on their beds were Sirius, Remus, and Peter. They had all been joking about something before James arrived. They all greeted James as he walked in.

"What's wrong, James?" Remus asked in a concerned way.

"Where were you all day?!" Sirius asked in a playfully stern tone. He was lying lazily on one of the beds with his head propped up on a pillow.

"I was judging for the Quidditch tryouts! It took forever!" replied the handsome messy haired boy.

"Tryouts? Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Greg kept bugging everybody about it every night this past week," Sirius replied, casually.

"What?! You knew about the tryouts and didn't tell me?!!" James was now looking at his friends incredulously.

"We thought you knew," said Remus calmly, sitting up on his bed.

"No! I didn't know," James spat out.

"Sorry, James," Remus said apologetically. "I guess we took it for granted that you had known that tryouts were today."

James shook his head. "Ah, its ok…I'm just upset that so many people tried out and most of them weren't even good," James sighed roughly. He plopped himself onto Remus's bed, making Remus move over to give James room.

"How many people were there?" Peter asked.

"Uh…about forty or so…"

"Forty?! That's more than the previous years put together!" said Sirius, his eyes wide with amazement.

"Yeah, I know. That's why we took so long…and there were people screwing up all over the place…it was not fun," James explained. He was puffing up Remus's pillow to be able to lean his head on it comfortably.

"So who tried out? Who did you all pick to be on the team?!" Sirius quickly asked.

James reflected on the tryouts, thinking of all the people that tried out and if any of them stood out in his mind at the moment. He soon remembered a couple of people and began to recall how the tryouts went.

"You see, Greg is the one who is going to decide the final list, but I guess I could mention some people that I thought did pretty well," James said slowly.

"Yes, yes! Tell us, James!" Peter shouted, almost bouncing up and down on his bed.

"Alright, well for Chaser I think that Baltazar Vicharelli has a good chance, and so does Ruby Macbeth, I think she was the strongest player today for the Chasers. There was also Gwen who tried out; she did pretty well, I think. Although, she can be very, very aggressive during the game and there's—"

"What?! Gwen tried out after all? How did she do?! WAS SHE GOOD?!!!" Sirius asked eagerly... a little too eager.

"Did she try out for the Chaser position?" asked Peter.

"Yeah she tried out, I was surprised too but once I saw her play— She blew everyone away," James said uninterested. "Oh and she didn't try out for the Chaser position—" James added.

"She's a Beater, I know! BUT HOW DID SHE DO?!!!!" Sirius said, almost screaming at James. James only looked at him, a frown placed upon his lips. How was it that Sirius knew that Gwen was trying out and didn't bother to inform James?

"She did great, I told you already," James replied, a confused look on his face.

"So Gwen did well at trying out for Beater…that's something new, huh, Sirius?" said Remus. He was glancing at Sirius with a small smirk. James was starting to get the feeling that something was going on here that he didn't know about. Nonetheless, he continued with his description of Gwen's tryout.

"That's correct. And she didn't just do well; she was bloody brilliant. Hitting the bludger at all the right times. When I think about it now, she was quite remarkable to tell you the truth. But I still don't know if Greg will let her in the team…she gets a slight too rowdy at times and at one point during the tryouts, I thought she was about to hit one of her own team players with her bat for not making an easy goal," James paused for a second and put a hand through his hair, the scene played in his head. "Heh, come to think of it, she kinda acts like you when you play, Padfoot," James grinned widely at Sirius.

Sirius's face seemed to have turned a bright red, but it quickly went away when he threw a pillow at James's head. James laughed, though he was still curious about Sirius's peculiar behavior.

"Well, it sounds like she's really good. I have a sure feeling that she's going to be on the team," Remus commented.

James nodded. "I'm praying that Greg let's her in. It's been a long time since we had a good Beater like her."

"What do you think, Sirius? Do you think she'll make it?" Remus suddenly asked. He was now looking at Sirius very intently, as if he knew something about him that James didn't know, obviously.

"I… um…I think that she might make it, but what do I know?" Sirius shrugged carelessly, but his response seemed tense.

James eyed Sirius carefully. "Hey what's up with you, Padfoot? You look…pale." Sirius was hiding something…for sure. He could read it all over his face.

"Nothing's wrong. What are you talking about?" he retorted quickly. Sirius was now looking at Remus with wide eyes, his face going an even paler white; it seemed as if he was begging Remus for help to get James to drop the subject.

"Oh behave, Sirius! Just tell James! He won't do anything to you!" Remus finally burst out. Sirius's face only turned a ghostly white.

"Tell me what? What are you guys hiding from me?" James questioned anxiously. He was growing tired of this charade, he just wanted Sirius to hurry up and tell him what the hell was wrong so that he could go back to his dorm and take a shower and a nice long nap before dinner.

"Go on. Tell him, Sirius. I doubt he'll get mad," said Remus in a reassuring manner; Sirius had jumped off his bed to hide behind Remus, which seemed really dumb to James since Remus was sitting right next to him, making it easier for him to hit Sirius incase this was something that would really get him upset.

"Yeah, tell me."

Sirius looked at both Remus and James before he took a breath to speak.

"I…I…I—I helped Gwen out and practiced with her for the try-outs," he said incoherently, letting out a breath after he spoke.

"Really?" James asked; expecting to hear something much more shocking. Actually, he had suspected that Gwen had had some help from Sirius. She sure as hell played like him.

"Well?" Sirius asked expectantly. He was looking at James, still cowering behind Remus; this was an odd sight since it wasn't like Sirius to be cowering away from anyone, especially not from James. That was just unheard of.

"Well what?" James asked with a shrug.

"Well are you going to get after me?" he asked carefully.

James let out a laugh. How could Sirius think that he would be upset? He did a great job in training her. She was just what they needed for the team. In fact, James should have been hugging Sirius for what he'd done. But if Sirius was going to be acting like some frightened kitten, then James couldn't pass up this once in a life time chance to mess with Sirius's head. This was going to be fun, for James at least.

"Sirius, you're an idiot," said James sternly. Sirius raised his eye brows at the remark, as did Remus.

"James, I'm sorry. She just asked me to help her and I couldn't say no I lik-"

"Shut up, Sirius!" James interrupted, his voice seeming to get angry. Sirius really looked scared now; and he was actually hiding completely behind Remus. A smile appeared suddenly on James's lips, continuing to speak, "Shut up, Padfoot! She was great and it was all because of you. To tell you the truth I'm glad you helped her. She may just be the best beater we've had since…well, since you. So stop apologizing for nothing. And why would you think I'd get upset with you? Did I ever tell you not to help her or something?" James asked. Sirius's face seemed relieved, but he was still standing behind Remus.

"James, the reason why Sirius was all worried was because you did tell him not to ever help anyone when it came to Quidditch," Remus informed, looking at James very seriously. James only looked back, a perplexed look on his face.

"Remus, when did I ever say that? Sirius is a great Quidditch player. I wouldn't say such a thing," he retorted in defense. Remus only laughed.

"I knew you would say that… don't you remember in our 4th year when we lost one game against Ravenclaw?" James shook his head before Remus continued. "Sirius had helped out Johnny Hooper and he was the reason why you all lost. And I quote: James Potter October 5th of our 4th year of Hogwarts: 'SIRIUS!'" Remus shouted, imitating James's voice perfectly, "'DON'T YOU EVER TRAIN ANYONE EVER AGAIN OR I'LL PERSONALLY CURSE YOU SO THAT YOU CAN NEVER PLAY QUIDDITCH AGAIN!!' end quote." Remus finished, clearing his throat. James stared at him, recalling that day and how he was so upset…that was the only reason why he had said such a thing, but he would have never really cursed Sirius…not for that at least. And since when did Remus get so good at matching his voice?

"Oh, yeah, I remember now…" James finally said, pushing his messy black hair off his hazel eyes. "But, I was only playing at the time…Sirius, you did a good thing working with Gwen. I really hope she makes it on the team…really." James smiled at Sirius, who had stopped hiding behind Remus.

Sirius smiled his perfectly at James. James returned the gesture and they began to talk about the others that had tried out. It wasn't long before each of the boys got hungry and went down to the Great Hall for dinner.

ALRIGHT WELL THAT WAS CHAPTER 14!!! BE SURE TO REVIEW AND THANKS A WHOLE BUNCH FOR YOUR TIME!!!!

Elie