I Hate Everything about You
Chapter five: Competition
The day dawned bright and clear, the sky was azure blue and hardly any clouds blocked the bright rays of the sun. Lily pulled her long auburn hair into a pony tail at the crown of her head, before brushing off her uniform uselessly. She could hear the crowd from outside the tent, the smell of fresh green grass filled her senses.
Her coach mumbled something before making his way out of the crimson colored tent, the team followed wordlessly.
The crowd went wild; it was the first game of the season, Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Lily felt the nerves chew on the inside of her chest but she smiled confidently, giving the crowd a little wave, sending the stands howling.
Lily was the best chaser that Hogwarts had seen since 1923, the crowd loved her.
The referee shouted the rules as the captains shook hands; Lily mounted her broom, bracing her feet on the ground before pushing soundly from the earth.
She flew upwards, wind whipping around her, as her nerves disappeared and adrenaline rushed through her veins. The she saw the ball as if in tunnel vision and in a flash the game began.
The ball was passed to her, and she tucked it under her arm, bending low on her broom and racing toward the goal posts.
"Score! 10 points for Gryffindor!" Lily heard the announcer as if through fog, her mind completely focused in on the game.
She saw the ball being passed from the chaser to chaser on the Ravenclaw team, the dipped low, spinning in the air before speeding straight up and stealing it from mid-air. The roar from the crowd was deafening, she made another goal with a smirk.
The game continued on, Gryffindor scoring goal after goal. It had been an hour and a half; the crowds were on their toes, watching the seekers every move. The score was 260 to Gryffindor, 100 Ravenclaw, it was intensely close; if Ravenclaw made another goal and then caught the snitch they could win or tie.
Suddenly the Ravenclaw seeker dived, his ebony hair flying behind him as he lay low on his broom. Lily watched in frozen horror as his hand closed around something small and golden.
"Chang from Ravenclaw gets the snitch…BUT GRYFFINDOR WINS!" The crowd was slightly confused but as the score began to flash up on the board, a dull roar grew into a wave of screams and yells. A flood of red and gold began to rush onto the field; Lily was immediately hoisted up onto her teammate's shoulders. The chant of "PARTY!" pulsed through the crowd, but Lily looked around for only one face.
She was carried on her teammate's shoulders through the entire castle, until the common room, where she finally convinced them to let her down. The party was in full swing, a banner already hanging over the door, punch already spiked, courtesy of Sirius Black no doubt.
Lily was slung around, passing form group to group, retelling some of her more exciting plays. Finally she someone pushed her onto the couch, and for some unknown reason she had a drink in her hands. Someone plopped down beside her and she grinned as he slung his arm around her with a handsome grin.
"Great game Evans, but I did guard you from some of those particularly nasty bludgers."
"I know Sirius, you're a great beater," She smiled at him, laughing as his ego inflated visibly.
"So Lily I heard-Jamsie!" Sirius paused, pulling someone by their belt loops to sit next to him on the couch.
"Don't call me Jamsie," James hissed with a slight blush, Lily giggled.
"Anyway, Lilykins-" Sirius started.
"Don't call me that," She spat also blushing slightly.
"Anyway I heard that you two-" He was cut himself off again when Amelia King beckoned him with a curl of her finger. "Duty Calls," He smirked standing up and making his way over to the dark headed 6th year.
"That boy will never grow up," She watched as Sirius whispered something into Amelia's ear that made her blush and giggle slightly.
"That's the truth," James agreed.
They sat in slightly awkward silence until James broke it with a nervous cough, "So good game Evans."
"You were there?" She asked in surprise.
"Err…yeah, sitting with uh, Peter" he looked away, flipping absentmindedly at the old yellowed pages of the small paperback book in his hands.
"Thanks…you always have a book, don't you?" Lily flipped her hair out of her eyes, leaning over to read the title. "Pride and Prejudice?"
"It's a good book," James said defensively, tucking it back into his back pocket.
"Yes it is," She smiled at him.
"You've read it?" The hazel eyed man asked in surprise.
"Yes, I do read you know," She smirked at him, her emerald eyes twinkling.
"I just didn't peg you as the type of person who would…well, read."
"You shouldn't peg people as anything until you get to know them," She replied with a frown.
"I guess not," James stood up, his lean form towering over her, before he disappeared into the throng of people.
"Be careful Lily," Remus appeared suddenly beside her.
"Bloody hell Remus, don't do that! And you know I don't get broken hearts," She smiled at him before getting up to find some more people to talk to.
Remus watched as she disappeared into the mass of people, shaking his head.