Chapter 14: If At First You Don't Succeed...
Saturday, September 17, 1977
James, Remus, and I arrived at the Quidditch Pitch before all the hopefuls. James excused himself to the locker room (after giving me a quick kiss), so Remus and I retreated to the bleachers.
"So, you and Marles seemed comfortable," I told him once we sat down.
He smiled. "Yeah, after you and I talked in the Potions classroom, I just figured to just relax and let things happen how they do."
"Good!" I exclaimed, opening the wrapper to the box of Jammie Dodgers. I offered one to Remus, which he accepted. "Have you seen anyone besides Marlene play before?"
"I've played with Sirius over the summer. His skills rival James as Chaser. He just never cared to join the house teams. Peter is okay but not up to ranks with the rest of them."
"Even hung over?" I interjected.
"Especially hung over," he said with a laugh and a bite of Jammie Dodger. "Dorcas and Emmeline came over last summer to visit Marlene when you were on holiday with your parents and we played. Dorcas is a killer Keeper. She's quick and agile. Emmeline is agile as well, a fair Chaser. Her size is definitely an advantage. I think the Prewett twins are trying out again this year. They were Beaters last year."
"I remember them. They work really well together, obviously. So what's your prediction?"
"Our circle of friends are going to take over the team. If James doesn't make them the main players, they're definitely, without a doubt in my mind, will at least be reserves. My only concern is Sirius."
"How come?"
"Regulus was Seeker last year for Slytherin and he's good. I wouldn't be surprised if he is chosen to return to the team. Not Marlene good but definitely comparable. There could be issue with the bad blood between them. The fact that Sirius is a Chaser may prevent it but they will still be on opposing teams."
"I don't think there will be an issue. They're both still alive without detention after Dueling Club. Which reminds me. How did you all get away without so much as a slap on the wrist for the whole Avery and Mulciber deal?"
"We're just that good," Remus said with a sly smile. "They have to watch out, though."
"What makes you say that?"
"Right now, we agreed to stop because you asked us to but only for this circumstance. They step one toe out of line and they will have to deal with Emmeline's 'Steleus Hex' or Peter's 'Densaugeo Hex.' They are itching to use it on them, especially Emmeline. She worked hard on her hex of choice."
"Pardon me for asking but who did she practice on?"
"Sirius," he said, smiling.
I burst out laughing. "He let her?"
Remus nodded. "Only because I had my wand pointed right at his nose, ready with the counter-curse." He glanced towards the field, "Oh, looks like everyone is here."
I followed his gaze towards the field, seeing about twenty or so hopeful students clumped together. I could easily spot Marlene's long blonde hair braided against her head, making Dorcas and Sirius dark locks easier to spot next to her. Emmeline's short stature in the front of the pack made her stand out. James was standing in front of the group, talking excitedly with his hands.
"I made James take the potion," I told Remus, keeping my eyes on the field. "He was running around the room like this all was a serious matter of life or death. Kept rechecking the same things over and over. I must have told him about ten times that his gear was in the locker room."
"Emmeline and Dorcas took it in the common room. I think I saw Sirius take his, too, but I doubt he'll ever admit to it. I'm glad you thought to pour some for each of them."
"I thought about it after I realized how much it makes. Didn't want all my hard work to go to waste," I said with a shrug.
I didn't expect what happened next.
"Lily! Lily Evans!" James's voice came roaring up from the field. I could barely make out his wand to his throat. "Can you come give me a hand?"
I turned to Remus. "I refuse to go alone," and I grabbed his hand and dragged him with me, slipping the package of Jammie Dodgers in my coat pocket.
We eventually made it down to the field. Remus took a seat near the sidelines.
"Watcha?" I asked when I joined him. I feel ridiculous.
"I need assistance," he said with a smile. I just raised an eyebrow. "We're going to work with the Seeker hopefuls, first. I need to observe. I need you," he said, holding up a red velvet bag, "to charm these to fly and dart around."
I took the bag and looked inside. "Golf balls? Really?" I asked flatly.
"They work and we don't have to actually track them down if people can't catch them," he answered.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this but I think I follow your Quidditch logic," I said with a sense of pride. I heard my friends laugh at this.
James called forward all the potential Seekers and lined them up. Then he Accio-ed a broom over and brought it to me. "Wait until I drum the back of my broom with my fingers," he told me quietly by my ear, sneaking a quick kiss. I nodded as he handed me the broom.
Tying the velvet bag to the broom, I kicked off ahead of them to claim my spot over to the sides. I pulled out my wand and one of the golf balls, painted a metallic gold like the real Snitch, and I readied myself for James's signal.
James and one of the potential Seekers (I believe he was a third-year) flew up just above my level. I kept my eyes on James, which wasn't hard, believe me. He looked quite dashing in his Quidditch robes. I kept my eyes on him, though, watching his hand. I saw him reach back on his broom as if to steady himself and he drummed his fingers, just like I see him do in Binn's class when he's bored beyond tears.
"Wingardium Leviosa," I whispered, twitching my wand and levitating the golf ball. I made it zoom all over, levitating behind the potential's ear, staying just out of reach, and just making it downright hard for the potentials. Right when they thought they'd catch it, I would then whisper, "Waddiwasi," which would shoot it away from their outstretched hand. I couldn't help it.
I was having too much fun!
I flew around the pitch, making sure I stayed out of the way and not make it too obvious where I was going to send the golf ball next. When they caught it the trial would be complete, and James would go down and get the next potential Seeker.
After two more trials he flew over to me. "You're doing awesome. I like how you make it as real as possible, since I need to really see what they can do under the pressure. I'm getting Marles next, so..." his voice trailed off.
"I know, don't go easy on her," I finished.
"No, that isn't what I meant," he said. "I was going to say up the game a little. If you do it at this level, they," he pointed to the group, "will think you are going easy on one of your best girlfriends."
"Yes, Captain," I said with a smile and a salute. He smiled at me and laughed, shaking his head. He went down to retrieve Marlene.
I could only recall a few more charms to use by the time I saw James's fingers drum his broom.
Make it as hard as possible, I thought to myself. "Wingardium Leviosa," I whispered again, circling it around her head a few times. Time for some fun! "Alarte Ascendare" was my next move, and the faux-Snitch shot straight up into the air. I switched between these two and "Waddiwasi" for a while, occasionally making her go into a dive with a quick "Descendo" on the faux-Snitch.
This continued for about three minutes. The other potentials? Nearly ten minutes each.
I was nearly worn out when she caught the little golf ball. Before landing, she flew to me. "What in the name of Merlin's baggy y-fronts was that?" she asked with a laugh, a big smile on her face.
"Didn't want it to be too easy or look that way," I answered honestly. "James asked me to really lay it on you," I admitted.
"I figured he would," she said, turning her broom around to prep for landing. "Thanks, that was actually a lot of fun!" She flew down to cheers from the other potential players.
This continued for four more Seekers, none were as impressive as Marlene. After the last one (who I felt I may have gone easy on, just due to exhaustion), I flew down with James and returned the bag and handed him my broom. "Hold onto that," he said, grinning.
I felt my shoulders slump in confusion. "Why for?"
"I'm not done with you yet," he said with a wink.
Great.
James explained that he was going to do the next bit of tryouts in a mock game format. They divvied up the Chasers and Keepers, asking the Beaters to sit in the sidelines for now. He explained that he will be putting a Keeper in front of each set of goal posts, then split the Chasers into groups of three. We would then play timed games. Five minutes each, then we would rotate the potentials until all had a chance.
Then he turned to me. "You just have to release the ball into play."
"Okay..." I said. "If I die, I'm haunting you."
Everyone laughed and he leaned close to my ear again. "Then I would have the sexiest ghost anyone would have ever seen," he whispered.
I then "accidentally" knocked him softly in the head with the end of my broomstick.
The first two teams got in position, and I took my spot about two meters below them. I held out the Quaffle in my hand, pointed my wand, and once again said, "Alarte Ascendare!" The ball shot up into play and I dodged out of the way, landing with the other hopefuls. While they played I ran over to Remus.
"Why do I get roped into these things?" I asked him.
"Just lucky, I guess," he replied. "Nice maneuvering for the Seeker tryouts."
"Thank you. I may be horrid at Quidditch but Charms I can handle."
At the end of each group I would go back to release the ball into play, then during play I would go back and sit with Remus. Dorcas never let a Quaffle through a hoop once, and Sirius and Emmeline were on fire with scores. Finally all the Keepers and Chasers had a turn, and I walked over to James and handed him my broom.
"I'm not helping with Beaters," I said.
He laughed. "I wasn't going to ask you to," he admitted. "I can hit the box with the Bludgers with a Charm from my broom. It's just easier to have the Quaffle done by someone else. Accounts for human error."
"I see. I'm going to go over with Remus and hide from... those..." I said, pointing at the chest that was shaking on the ground.
I ran over and sat with Remus while the Beaters took turns whacking the Bludgers around. Eventually everyone tried out and we were heading back to the castle. We let Sirius, Dorcas, Emmeline, and Marlene go ahead of us, again.
"Any ideas on who you want?" I asked him on our way back.
"Oh, yes," he said, smirking at me.
"On your team, Prongs," Remus laughed.
"Yes," he answered seriously this time. "I just have to write up the list and give it to McGonagall for approval. She was watching from her office with Omnioculars," he said, pointing towards a window facing the Pitch.
"You aren't telling us anything, are you?" I asked.
"Not a word," he said, that smile on his face again.
How I long for the days that smile irritated me.
Usually Saturday nights were for the group to get together but for some reason at dinner everyone said they couldn't come by this evening, even Sirius who comes whenever he pleases. They all seemed wiped from tryouts but I couldn't help but realize that wasn't the whole reason.
James and I were alone in the common room, snuggled under a blanket on the sofa again.
"Did you tell them not to come over tonight?" I asked him again.
"For the tenth time tonight, no," he said, a chuckle still in his voice.
The chuckle that he did something.
"You're hiding something," I accused.
"No, I'm not. They were really tired, and Moony wanted some time with Marlene."
"But you only chuckle like that when you're hiding something."
He sighed. "Okay, I admitted to Remus this morning that his timing was bad. That was all. He told the others to nix tonight. They were too tired to argue."
"See? Was that so hard?"
"Extremely," he said, looking at me.
"Why, pray-tell, was that difficult?"
"Because I would rather be doing this," he said, pulling my chin up to meet my mouth.
Point taken.
I slipped my hand behind his neck and ran my fingers through his hair and I felt his kiss hasten. I pulled him in tightly, letting all my resolve go. I let my kiss become deeper, rougher, and I somehow managed to contort myself so I was on top of him, straddling his waist.
"Thank Merlin this is a wide couch," I said, breaking the kiss just long enough to get the words out before I continued the rough kiss. I started at the buttons to his shirt, resisting all temptation to just rip it off him. I felt his hands slip around my waist under my top, breaking the kiss once more so he could pull it off me and throw it to the floor.
I blindly reached for my wand and then pointed it to the portrait-hole. I huffed out a couple incantations, trying to catch my breath. I tossed my wand back on the table and went back to kissing James.
"What was that for?" he asked between kisses and removal of his shirt.
"Don't trust Sirius to knock," I replied, moving my kisses to his neck and ears. I felt him unhinge my bra and that joined the pile.
"Smart girl," he said, kissing my lips again and guiding me on my back. He took the blanket from earlier and threw it over the back of the couch before we got even more tangled in it. His hands caressed my chest and arms. His touch was intoxicating.
I stroked his back and he moved the kisses down my chin, to my neck, then my chest. I let myself release a soft moan.
Nevermind. We're beyond "intoxicating." We're entering into euphoric.
I felt his hands trace up my leg to my thigh, reaching under my skirt. I stopped him. "The skirt can go, but the rest stays," I told him. He nodded.
"I understand," he said, then returned to kissing me. My skirt soon after joined the pile.
"Well, if I'm just going to be in my knickers, you are definitely wearing too much," I joked, working at the buckle of his belt. His pants soon joined the pile.
"And what nice knickers they are," he chuckled. Pink with red flowers with ruffles on the trim.
"I hear guys love the ruffles," I smiled.
"They are quite appealing, yes," he smiled back. Can't have that grin, so I kissed him again, deeper and rougher than before. I was able to somehow twist myself on top of him, again.
We continued kissing and petting for a while, how long exactly is unknown to me. I never looked at a clock and time was askew to me, so it could have been longer or shorter than it was in actuality. Time stood still for us.
"I love you so much, James," I whispered in his ear.
"I love you, too, my Lily," he replied before kissing me again.
I yawned. The day was starting to catch up to me. "Ugh, I'm leaving my clothes here. I don't care," I said, waving my hand at the random piles of garments.
"What charm did you use on the portrait hole?" James asked. "I couldn't understand you."
"One to lock it from the outside, one to make it so the portrait itself won't listen to anyone but the caster," I pointed to myself at that, "and one where if the first two fail there would be a barrier in the way to actually get in. You can't see in too well from the portrait itself."
"My brilliant Lily," James said, kissing me again. "Then we won't have to worry about anyone coming in the common room in the morning and finding everything everywhere."
"I also set it so they would be deactivated if we open the door from the inside," I added.
"Perfect," he said with a smile.
I kissed him one last time and whispered, "Goodnight, James," in his ear. Then I got up and walked to the stairway to the dorms. When I got to the third step, I turned around. "You know," I said to James with an air of melodrama, "I really don't think I can handle sleeping all on by my lonesome. I also think I am much too tired to even make it to my room without assistance. Whatever will I do?" I gave a sly grin and draped my hand across my forehead.
He grinned ear-to-ear and laughed. "Well, what type of gentlemen would I be if I didn't help a beautiful lady to her room?" he replied, same silly melodramatic air to his voice that I had. He walked over and scooped me up in his arms and I placed my hands around his neck. "And I can't possible leave a lady to fend all by her lonesome at night, now can I? Just imagine what kind of nightmares could plague her if I wasn't there to protect her?" He smiled down at me.
He carried me to my room and placed me in bed, pulling the blankets up around me. He then climbed in next to me and pulled me close to him. The lack of layers made this moment intimate, while innocent, and it felt amazing. The feel of his skin against mine sent a spark through me that I couldn't ignore.
I once again had a fabulous night of sleep in James's arms.
We should add this to our Friday and Saturday routines.