LILY

The week passed in a blur. After two whole months of vacation it took a while to get into study mode. All the professors were piling as much homework on us as possible because they felt we needed large amounts of practice for our OWLs, which were more than six months away. Quidditch tryouts were hilarious. Since me and Al were the only two members of the old team he had to find five more plus keep in mind substitutes in case there were any injuries. Al divided all the hopefuls onto groups. The first lot up were beaters. There were some half decent ones but none of them measured up to Fred or James. Al picked John Darrow and Mark Tugwood. Next were the keepers. They were a little better. Evan Broadmoor had ridiculously fast reflexes and was a good find. Next were the chasers. Imagine my astonishment when I saw Nick getting on to her broom and taking off. I got on too and hovered next to her.

'You never told me you were going to try out.' I said.

She blushed a little. 'I don't know if I'll actually get on the team so I just didn't want to tell anyone.'

Before I could say anything Al told us to start the basic drills. Nick actually flew pretty well. She was better than half the idiots there anyway. At least she managed to stay on her broom for the whole lap around the pitch. By the end of it Al picked me, Hugo and Caterina de la Felino. Caterina was a sixth year. Her mother was the famous Spanish keeper Sendelina de la Felino. She moved to England before Caterina was born. Cat still doesn't know who her dad is.

Nick got picked as substitute chaser. When we were walking back to the castle I turned to her. 'When did you get that good?' I asked.

'Well I practiced a lot last year. It was pretty frustrating dating Lorcan and Quidditch helped take my mind off things. And besides I needed to figure out why you Brits like this sport so much,' she said with a laugh. I gave her a hug. I felt really bad actually. Every time she started talking about Lorcan last year I used to get really awkward and change the subject. They were both my friends, it just felt wrong to hear her telling me what a terrible boyfriend he was. But to tell you the truth I didn't really listen to anything she said about Lorcan, good or bad. I just sort of shut her out.

Later that day Al asked me to get the package mum sent us. He told me there was some of Gran's chocolate cake in there. Gran makes the best chocolate cake in the world, its all gooey inside and it's my favourite. So technically girls aren't supposed to go in the boys' dorms but no one really follows that rule. I opened the door and the first thing I saw was Frank with his face stuck to Rose's. I just ran away, all thoughts of chocolate cake forgotten. It was really weird but I actually didn't feel that bad. I think liking Frank had become more of a habit than anything else. I did really like him, but as a friend. It actually felt a little good to know that I wasn't going to pieces because Frank Longbottom liked someone else.

Rose came down in a bit and sat next to me on the couch. She looked at me apprehensively. 'What?' I asked her, because she was just staring at me.

'So what you saw, well it just sort of happened.'

'Yeah, so?'

'Well I know you used to like him a bit before and I'm just really sorry'

I smiled at her. 'Oh Rosie, you really don't need to worry. I stopped liking him a while ago; I just didn't realize it till now.'

She gave me hug. 'I have something to tell you'. I said. 'Remember last year when Rohan and Ariana had that complicated thing going on, well I sort of kissed him.'

Rose just looked at me.' So you mean your first kiss was with your best friend's boyfriend'.

'Yeahh. But technically they weren't dating and that was it, just one kiss. I barely talked to him after that'. I felt so much better after I told someone about it. It actually felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

'You need to talk to him about it, you know that right?' she told me.

'No way, it was last year and I do not want to even think about it again.' I said vehemently.

She just gave me that look which says I'm-so-disappointed-because-I-thought-you-were-so-much-smarter-than-this. It's actually a lot like her mother's guilt inducing look. Okay so new plan. Figure out how to talk to Rohan without looking like a complete idiot.