A/N: and here it is, the last chapter of second year :( but don't worry, that just means we're moving onto third year :D silver lining, eh?
review responses:
Geniia: Thank you :) I'm glad I've portrayed them how you pictured them too :D I'm trying to keep them all as in character as possible, and it makes me feel so happy that it's working! Wow! I'm always overwhelmed when my reviewers say this is the best marauders era fic they've read, and I'm truly grateful to hear it, and so happy that I've made this enjoyable for you :) No, I definitely won't be stopping mid-way, I intend to see this through to the very end! (and that includes the sequel, which will be about the first war and the OOTP). LOTR is amazing, I love the poems and songs in it, they're my favourite! I read three chapters last night, my eyes were killing me when I finally (and begrudgingly) set the book down! Thank you very much for taking the time to read my story, and please enjoy the next chapter :)
MissWendyBird: Hello there, and welcome to my story! I'm very happy to hear you've been enjoying it (you must have been extremely tired after reading all of the chapters!) and I hope you continue to enjoy the upcoming chapters :) Yes, I love Fabian and Gideon, and though the next year will be their last year, I'm sure we'll hear more from them, as we did from Fred and George when they left. Thank you for reading, and please enjoy this next chapter too.
evershort: Haha, don't worry, I'm no stalker! Your safe :) I know, they still seem like tiny tots, don't they! Good! You're far too young to be worrying about dates (I'm such a hypocrite, but my own mothers lecture has been drummed into me!) enjoy you're childhood, you'll miss it terribly when it's gone (I know I do, adulthood is such a bore!) Aragorn is my favourite character, I must admit, but I have a soft spot for Samwise Gamgee too, he's so sweet and bumbling! They are really hard to get through, I've read the series once before, and it took me the better part of two years to finish them all (including the Hobbit, which is brilliant too!) But they're well worth the read. The movies were amazing, definitely in my top ten! And you were right, this is the last chapter of second year! next year we get onto Hogsmeade (and the romance ;D) since our fearless heroes will have to tackle dates! Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you like the next chapter.
Fairywolf: Thank you :D reading the reviews and writing the story are the highlight of my day, but to hear yours is reading the story...well...let's just say I couldn't stop grinning like a fool! It does take awhile, but when I'm not actually writing chapters, I often find myself jotting down ideas and exerts, and by the end of the day I have most of the chapter written in notes, and I just need to link it together and write it properly, so it's pretty spaced out, plus I'll often write passages for futures chapters and years ( and even stories!). And now I'm grinning even more cause you said this one is the best! Ahh, life doesn't get much better, eh? Thank you for reading, and please enjoy the last chapter of second year!
quirky-as-alice: XD thank you!!! I think we all have a pretty good idea, however, it could change...I can think of worse people he could be paired with (hint, hint). Thank you for reading, I hope you like this chapter just as much!
Bookworm315: I'm exstatic I could make your day, and now you've made mine! All of you have! I decided to post early today so you don't have to keep checking :D Thank you so much, and please keep enjoying the upcoming chapters! And you don't have to worry, I won't be stopping this fic, I want to know what happens just as much as you guys! Keep studying, and good luck for your exams :D
BloodMoonRising: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Please enjoy the next chapter, and thanks so much for reading!
splatteredpaint: Yeah, LOTR was the first novel I ever read, (though my all time favourite book is Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, it's so great!) It's fine, I only capatalize mine out of habit, if I'm in a rush I never normally bother. Haha, I can kind of guess, my last computer broke after I spilled a cup of tea all over it, and in all honesty, I was more upset about the tea, as it was the last tea bag and all the shops were closed! I'm sure James will have more injuries as a result of Quidditch, it's a dangerous sport, after all! But a cool one, I wish it was real! Haha, I like to think the Marauders were inspired into their ways by someone, and who better than James' cousin, and the Prewett brothers! There's a lot about the animagi in this chapter, so hopefuly you'll enjoy it! Yes, I need to write more about their pranks, I have a few ideas already, hopefully they'll be entertainin too! I like your ramblings, feel free to ramble all you like! (I'm a rambler at heart to, it's probably why my repsonses are so long aswell haha) Thank you so much for continuing to read the story, and I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter too :D
Disclaimer: I own Holly, and Chris, and Bridget, and Jonny (I love him)...that's about it...oh, and I own Dr. Deepak's Sizzling Fire Seeds too :D but the rest is J.K's...lucky devil!
The Marauders Tale: The Hogwarts Years
Chapter Sixteen
Homeward Bound
The following weekend, the four Marauders prepared to sneak out and begin the arduous task of continuing to research Animagi. The boys were still baffled as to how to achieve this feat, and what with James' Quidditch accident, the prank and the duel with the Slytherins, hadn't had the time to really get it into force.
At some point during the week, James had asked his cousin Jonny to get the only book on Animagi out that they knew of. Though he had been curious as to why James wanted this certain book, he had refrained from asking too many questions, and just left him to get on with it. Jonny knew his cousin wouldn't actually become an Animagi, and simply put it down to some sort of prank the four boys were planning. Jonny wasn't the most perceptive person James knew.
James led his friends into an empty classroom on the seventh floor, hoping they wouldn't run into Filch, teachers, Peeves the poltergeist or any wandering ghosts as they researched, though he brought the invisibility cloak just in case.
"So, where do we begin?" asked Sirius, looking directly at Remus. Although he wasn't one hundred percent on board with their idea, he knew it would be futile to try and stop them, and decided that at least if anything went wrong, he could help them. He was, after all, the most sensible and frankly sane member of their group.
"Well, I think we need to get as much information on Animagi as we can, compile a list of information, techniques and stuff...it's gonna take a while, I mean, we don't even have a clue how to begin."
James and Sirius' faces fell. They just wanted to jump right in.
"I suppose we'll need to go back to the library then," said Sirius glumly. Remus chuckled, and nodded.
"Although, I'm not sure the library will have the necessary information we'll need. Remember, you have to be of age to become an Animagus, so there probably won't be many books on how to become one."
"Then what are we supposed to do?" asked James exasperatedly, "If we need books, and the bloody library doesn't have any, how are we going to do this?"
Remus sighed, and ran his hand through his hair, "I told you it would be difficult. Let's just go to the library and have a look at what we can find."
His friends nodded, and they piled themselves back under James' cloak, and left the classroom.
James wracked his brains for a way to find information on Animagi as the four boys wandered along the seventh floor. It was around midnight, and they hadn't run into anyone, so he focused all of his attention on finding a way to get the necessary information. He stopped.
A door had suddenly appeared. A door that James was sure wasn't there before.
"Mate, why did you stop?" whispered Sirius slightly annoyed. James pulled the cloak off him, and walked towards the door. Sirius, Remus and Peter frowned in confusion, and followed him.
"This door wasn't here before," mumbled James.
"And? James doors appear all of the time around here. Remember that one Peter found and he ended up in the middle of the grounds," Sirius chuckled at the memory of Peter coming back ashen faced and telling them he'd found a portal to another world.
James ignored him, and slowly opened the door.
"Whoa!"
The room behind the door was large, and the walls were lined with tall bookshelves filled with endless leather bound tomes. There was a large desk in the centre of the room, with four chairs around it, several cushions in the corner, and sleeping bags. There was also a flask of pumpkin juice and a large plate of cookies. James stepped up to the bookcases, reading the titles printed in various fonts on the spines, and grinned.
"Guys...these books are all about Animagi!"
"You're kidding!" cried Sirius, bounding up next to James and pulling out a large red leather bound book. He flipped through the book, and wide grin on his face.
"Bloody hell, this thing tells you all about them!"
"This one tells you what can go wrong," said James, holding up a small black book, a slightly worried look on his face.
"And this one gives tips on how to avoid it," chuckled Remus, his arms full of books.
"How come we didn't know about this place?" asked Peter, looking around interestedly.
James shrugged, "No idea, I wasn't even looking where I was going, I was too busy thinking about where we were gonna find the information we needed."
"Me too," the three other boys said in unison. Their eyes widened slightly, and they looked around incredulously.
"Bloody hell, this room knew exactly what we wanted!" exclaimed Sirius, "It even knew I was hungry," he pointed to the cookies and the pumpkin juice. James laughed, his eyes alight with excitement.
"That must be it! This room only appears when you really need something!"
Peter yawned loudly, and squeaked an apology.
"That explains the sleeping bags," chuckled Remus.
"This place has everything - everything we need," James grinned, putting his book down on the large desk, "We can really do this!"
His three friends nodded, and scattered around the large room, pulling out as many books as they could possibly carry, and spent the rest of the night reading and chatting excitedly at the prospect of actually being able to achieve this incredible feat. Though they would still have to figure out how to actually become Animagi, at least now they had more than one book to help them on their way.
~**~
The next morning, four very tired Marauders dragged themselves into History of Magic and took their seats. Only Remus bothered listening to the ghostly Professor Binns, whilst Sirius dozed lightly in his chair, Peter stared distantly out of the window, and James focused his attention of the pretty red head three seats away.
"James is staring at you again," Holly leant over and whispered. Lily frowned, and chanced a look behind her. Sure enough, and pair of hazel eyes were fixated on her. She frowned again, and turned back.
"How did he even pass his tests last year? He never pays attention in class," hissed Lily.
Holly chuckled, and shrugged, "Natural brains?"
Lily snorted in disgust, and went back to her note taking.
~**~
The Gryffindor second years made their way through the crowded hallways towards the Great Hall.
"I am so bored," moaned Sirius, pushing his way through the crowd, "Who knew Binns could make something like Goblin wars boring!"
James chuckled, "Well amuse yourself then."
Sirius' brow knitted together, then a wide grin spread across his face.
"Hex that first year," he pointed at a small Slytherin near the four boys. Remus slowed walking, a slightly worried look crossing his face.
"What?" frowned James.
"Come on, amuse me," he pleaded mockingly. James slapped him on the back of the head and continued to push through the crowd.
"I'm not hexing a first year just because you say so," chuckled James.
Sirius' face broke into an evil grin, "I dare you."
James stopped, and turned.
"You dare me?"
Sirius nodded defiantly, "I dare you...unless you're afraid."
James snorted, "I'm not afraid, I just don't understand why you want me to hex a first year."
Sirius shrugged, "He's a Slytherin, plus we're older than him, and he's strutting around like he owns the place."
Indeed, the boy did seem to have a rather superior look on his face, which could've been construed as some form of arrogance.
Remus glanced at Peter, both thinking that even if Sirius wasn't as a bad as the other Black's, he certainly had some of their tendencies.
James shook his head. The boys had now come to a stop, as the students filing out of classrooms added to the crowd.
"Go on then, I dare you."
James frowned again. Part of him told him this was wrong, that he had no reason to hex this boy, but the other part (the part that normally controlled his actions, and funnily enough, his ego) told him to go for it.
"But if you're too scared, I understand."
That was it. James whipped out his wand, and pointed it at the first year. At the same time, Lily, Holly, Bridget and Chris, who had been lagging behind slightly, pushed through the crowd and came up behind Remus and Peter.
"What is he doing!" cried Lily, just as James uttered the incantation. In an instant, the small Slytherin's legs began wobbling; he stumbled, scrabbling at those surrounding him to steady himself. Sirius burst into laughter, as did many of the students around them. James glanced at Sirius, and grinned.
Lily pushed forward and grabbed James' shoulder, spinning him to face her.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!"
James blanched. This was bad.
"I...uhh...he...well....Sirius...he..."
"I dared him," said Sirius proudly, not seeing what was wrong. Lily's eyes flashed in anger, and she seemed to tower over James even though she was considerably smaller.
"He dared you...and you did it!"
James mouthed wordlessly at Lily. In the back of his mind, a small voice told him she was being irrational. What was the big deal? It was just a Slytherin. Why was she defending him?
"Evans...he's a Slytherin...he's the enemy! Why are you so bothered –"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY AM I SO BOTHERED!? WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO GO AROUND HEXING PEOPLE JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE IN A DIFFERENT HOUSE!?"
"Come on," whispered Holly, pulling Remus away from the argument. A large crowd had gathered around Lily and James, and Holly, Chris, Bridget, Remus and Peter set about dispersing it.
Sirius backed away a little. He'd made a big mistake.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU POTTER! HOW CAN YOU BE SO ARROGANT....SO HEARTLESS!?"
James shrank back. He didn't know how to answer that.
When James didn't reply, Lily shook her head and turned on her heel, her red hair looking like flames. She barged past Sirius, glaring at him, and stalked off to the Great Hall. The girls glanced at him, all identically shaking their heads, then followed Lily.
Sirius stepped tentatively towards James.
"Listen mate...I'm sorry, I didn't know she was there...I shouldn't have suggested it."
"No," snapped James, "You shouldn't have."
Sirius glanced at his friends fearfully.
James sighed, and his face softened, "But I shouldn't have gone along with it either...it's my fault...besides, Evans is completely out of order, standing up for bloody Slytherins."
Remus shook his head in exasperation, "When will you learn...I thought you wanted Lily to like you?"
"I do," cried James, "But not at the expense of making friends with that lot," he jerked his thumb over towards the small crowd that had gathered around the Slytherin boy. Sirius nodded in agreement, and Remus simply gave up. Perhaps they'd understand someday.
~**~
"THAT BOY! I CAN'T BELIEVE HIM!"
Lily had been like this for about an hour. Holly checked her watch; she had to be at Quidditch practice in less than five minutes. She really needed to wrap this up.
"Lily, we know," said Chris soothingly, "But why are you taking this to heart, he didn't hex you."
Lily rolled her eyes, "It's just the principal of it Chris, what makes him think he can be like that...think that he's better than anyone else, that he can do what he wants?"
Holly shrugged, "I have no idea, it seems really out of character for him, now I hate to leave, but I have Quidditch."
She stood up, and hugged Lily, "Just forget about him Lils, don't get yourself worked up over him."
Lily nodded, and took a deep breath.
"I know I shouldn't, but he just makes me so angry...I dont even know why!"
Holly smiled apologetically, "We know, maybe we'll figure it out someday."
Holly bade goodbye to her friends, and headed out of the door.
Lily flopped down onto her bed, and buried her face in her pillows. Bridget sighed, and sat next to her.
"You know, James really can be a good guy, he helped me with Transfiguration a couple of weeks ago, and he was lovely."
Lily lifted her head, and snorted, "Now that I refuse to believe...James can't be lovely, he doesn't have it in him."
Chris laughed, and shook her head, "Someday Lily Evans, you'll see the real James Potter...he just needs to tone himself down a little."
Lily rolled her eyes, "A little? The boy needs to change completely before I'll ever give him the time of day."
~**~
"How is she?" asked James quietly.
Holly straightened up from putting her Quidditch gear away in her locker and sighed.
"Angry as hell, what were you thinking James?"
"I dont know!" cried James, "Why is she so concerned about Slytherins all of the time!?"
"That's not what she's angry about James," explained Holly, "It's the way you act, you have to admit, you've been pretty up yourself since you started here...I dunno whether you've always been like this and I've never noticed, or if it's Black's influence...or you've taken one too many bludgers to the head."
James groaned, and sat down on the bench, "She's no angel either, she can never lighten up, she always has to take everything so seriously."
"Talking about me again, Knight?" Sirius strolled over to the pair, towelling his hair after taking a well needed shower.
"In your dreams Black," Holly rolled her eyes and turned back to James.
"Just...dont listen to this idiot anymore, and you should do fine."
"Ouch Knight, that hurt."
Holly rolled her eyes again and smacked him on the arm. She smiled sadly at James, then disappeared from the locker room. James buried his head in his hands, muttering something inaudible.
"Cheer up mate; it's not the end of the world."
James glanced up, and shrugged, "Then why does it feel like it is?"
~**~
Breakfast was rather awkward the next morning. Once again, Chris insisted the girls sit with the boys in her desperation to fix Lily and James' turbulent relationship. Lily, however, simply ignored the boys all through breakfast, which was rather odd, as she usually got on rather well with Remus and Peter.
Chris threw her fork down onto her plate in exasperation.
"What's up?" asked Holly. Lily was determinedly focusing all of her attention on her breakfast, whilst the Marauders (as they were now referring to themselves) were huddled together, more than likely planning another prank. They hadn't pulled anything in awhile, and Holly found it funny that she was actually quite worried that they hadn't; the boys were quickly getting quite a reputation for themselves.
Chris glanced at Lily, then at James, "I'm just sick of all the arguing," she whispered, "I really like those guys, they're fun to hang around with, but at the rate those two are going, James will be lucky to survive Hogwarts with all four limbs."
Holly smiled grimly, "We do have quite a situation, dont we?"
Chris nodded, and began moodily stabbing at her scrambled eggs. A flurry above the student's heads signalled the arrival of the post. Holly glanced up, and spotted her black owl Vespa soaring towards her. As she watched the bird fly closer, she spotted a handsome tawny owl cross its path. She gasped; in its claws, was a large black envelope. This was bad.
"Look," hissed Holly, nudging Chris and Bridget. Chris followed her line of sight, and gasped.
"Oh no."
The last time a black letter had been seen, a student at Hogwarts had lost a member of his family to Lord Voldemort. As more and more students noticed the letter, the hall gradually grew quieter. The tawny owl landed at the Ravenclaw table, in front of a small girl. No sooner had she reached out for the letter, than Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick appeared at her side. They gently lead the girl away from the great hall, her face white as a sheet. The hall remained quiet, until whispers and conversations broke out. Holly turned to her owl, who clutched a copy of the Daily Prophet in its talons. Holly removed the paper and pushed a bowl of cornflakes towards the owl.
Wizarding World in shock at largest Death Eater attack takes place in Manchester
Minister for Magic Millicent Bagnold has expressed her deep shock and horror at the atrocious attack in Manchester last night, which claimed the lives of three wizards and seventeen Muggles. The attack, believed to be made by Death Eaters, happened at around six thirty pm. So far, Aurors have refused to give the names of the three wizards who lost their lives, however we can inform you that the family in question were of half-blood decent, further worrying the Wizarding World. So far, it has seemed only Muggles and Muggle born wizards were the target, however it now seems many of us are at far greater risk than we imagined....
"This is awful," groaned Bridget, "How can this even happen?"
Chris shook her head sadly.
Lily, who had moved next to Holly to read the article, sighed, "I don't know Bridget...we can only hope someone can stop...him...soon."
Holly folded the paper up and passed it to James, who had been watching the girls. He folded open the paper and read the report, a slow frown crossing his face. Holly turned to her letter, and opened it.
"What does it say?" asked Lily worriedly.
Holly frowned, "They're fast tracking the Auror training, it's only two year, instead of three."
"Oh yeah, Jonny wants to go into the academy doesn't he?" said Chris, "Why are they fast tracking it?"
"All the attacks, they need more Aurors out there," grimaced Holly, "Hey James, read this," she passed the letter to James, who was still frowning at the paper. He read it quickly, and sighed.
"This is bad....I mean...it's always been bad...but...it just seems so much more..."
"Real," whispered Lily. The two locked eyes for a moment, then looked away. James glanced at the Slytherin table, and scowled.
"Look at them, I bet they're all so glad their parents managed to pull this off," he spat. Lily lowered her eyes to her plate, unable to meet anybody's eyes.
Sirius looked over to the table and spotted his younger brother sitting with Crabbe and Grover. Regulus saw his brother and waved jovially. Sirius managed a grim smile.
"And my brother's mixed up with that lot," he groaned, "I've gotta do something."
James clapped Sirius on the back, "Don't worry mate, we'll think of something."
Remus nodded, "James is right, we won't let him be dragged down into that crowd."
Holly, Bridget and Chris glanced at Lily, who looked rather surprised.
"I told you so," whispered Chris. Lily scowled, and rolled her eyes.
"That doesn't mean I have to like him."
~**~
"Hey! Reg!"
Regulus turned to see his brother and his friends hurrying towards him.
"I'll be there in a minute," Reg smiled at his friends. Crabbe and Grover glared at Sirius as he approached then stalked off down the corridor.
"Hi Sirius, hi guys," Regulus greeted happily. He loved talking to the Marauders, as he'd heard several students calling them. They were so cool, so popular...it was a pity his friends didn't see this.
"Hey Reg, how are you?" asked James warmly.
"I'm good, I've got History of Magic thought...it's such a bore! We were talking about some sort of war last lesson; you'd think that would have been interesting!"
James chuckled; Sirius and Regulus were so alike.
"You'll get used to it, at least you manage to stay awake," James stared pointedly at Sirius, who grinned.
"When am I ever going to need to know who started the Goblin Revolution of 1832?"
"You're exams," pointed out Peter. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned to his brother.
"I suppose you heard about the attack, right?"
Regulus nodded grimly, "Mum wrote to me last night and told me."
Sirius winced a little, his parents knew about it before the Prophet...things were just getting worse.
"Listen...Reg I'm worried about you."
"Me?" said Regulus in confusion, "We're pure bloods Sirius, they won't attack us!"
Sirius sighed, "That's not what I mean...I'm worried about those lot you call your friends, they're trouble, Reg."
Regulus frowned, "They didn't attack anybody Sirius, they're good guys, really."
Sirius ran his hand through his hair, "Listen, I can't tell you who to hang around with...but...just promise me if anything...suspicious happens, you'll come and tell me, alright?"
Regulus scowled, and glanced at his brothers friends. They all bore worried expressions...why were they worried?
"Uhhh...okay...but really Sirius, there's nothing to worry about."
Sirius nodded, and clapped his brother on the shoulder, "Just keep yourself out of trouble, I've been worried about you ever since you were sorted into Slytherin."
Regulus sighed, "Is this because Mum and Dad have been arguing with you about the sorting...'cause I tried telling them you would have demanded to be in Slytherin, but they wouldn't listen..."
"I demanded to be in Gryffindor Reg, and the house agreed," sighed Sirius, "Slytherins are trouble."
Regulus looked rather shocked. He backed away from his brother, "I...I've gotta go...I'll see you around."
The small boy turned on his heel and dashed down the corridor. James, Remus and Peter stepped closer to Sirius.
"You alright mate?" asked James.
Sirius nodded, "Yeah...I'll just have to hope he doesn't do anything stupid...you know."
"We know," said Remus sympathetically, "Come on, we've got Flitwick, and we dont want James to miss his sweetheart at her best."
"Hey!" cried James and Peter and Sirius sniggered. The four boys headed back down the corridor and towards the Charms classroom, sincerely hoping Sirius' worries would never become truths.
~**~
"Alright team...this is it...we haven't won the cup in years...but this is our chance..."
The end of the year was fast approaching, and several months had passed since the attack in Manchester, and unfortunately, things only seemed to be getting worse. There had been three more attacks, in which two Aurors and countless witches, wizards and Muggles had been lost. Times were darkening quickly, and it seemed there was nothing that could be done about it.
The Marauders had dedicated most of their time researching Animagi, normally spending the entire night of a full moon in the Room of Requirement, sort of in honour of Remus' painful transformations. However, the three boys were no closer to working out how to become Animagi than they had from the beginning, but it was only a matter of time.
Lily and James were still not talking, thought they weren't exactly arguing either. After news of the attack on Manchester had spread, Lily began to notice more and more that the Slytherins seemed smug after every Death Eater attack. Though she wasn't about to admit it, she did feel a little guilty for blowing up at James like that. In light of the recent attacks, Professor Dumbledore had cancelled the end of year tests (except OWL's and NEWT's), as many of the students affected in the attacks were quite young.
To try and cheer everybody up, the Marauders had made it their task in life to prank as many Slytherins as possible. Sirius said it was their duty as Gryffindors, and James and the others seemed perfectly happy with that. They even noticed that many of their pranks were overlooked by several teachers, in fact, James and the boys could have sworn they saw Professor Sprout, who had had three students in her house (Hufflepuff) lose members of their families in the attacks, turn around and walk the other way when James his fellow Marauders were charming a load of quills to shoot themselves at anybody wearing green. Unfortunately, green eyes were also a target, and Sirius made a spectacular dive at Lily, knocking her to the ground when four quills decided to make her a target. Suffice to say, Lily was not pleased, especially since Sirius wasn't exactly a light weight, but she didn't shout at James for the prank at all, which was good enough for him.
It was the last Quidditch match of the season, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, and James was determined to continue their winning streak.
"...this is the best team Gryffindor has seen in years...I know we can do this...and if we don't....well...I may just throw myself into the Whomping Willow..."
"Way to build team spirit, Jonny," called Sirius. Jonny grinned, and his face returned to its serious 'Quidditch look', as James had dubbed it.
"...we can do this...I know we can...I'm so proud of you all, even if I'm a complete arse in training...you guys have been amazing."
James beamed proudly at his cousin, and followed the team out onto the pitch. The roar of cheering students blasted his ears as soon as he stepped into the sunshine. He glanced at Sirius, who was waving his beaters bat above his head, to Holly, who was grinning happily. He searched the crowd of Gryffindors, and spotted Remus, Peter, Lily, Bridget and Chris, who had made a large banner, he did a double take, and laughed. The banner read 'Black, Potter, Girl Knight', and sported a large lion on either side. Lily looked simply radiant, jumping up and down and screaming for her team.
This was sure to be the greatest game ever.
"...and that's another goal to Hufflepuff by Amos Diggory, newest addition to the Hufflepuff team...Gryffindor don't seem to be up to their usual standard today...come on Jonny, you can do this!"
James sped after Hayley Rogers who was now in possession of the Quaffle. Gryffindor were down 50-20, and it didn't look like it was going to get any better. Hufflepuff had a terribly strong team this year, and the Gryffindors nerves seemed to be getting the better of them.
Holly sped in from the left and punched the Quaffle out of Haley's grasp. James sped underneath and caught it, took a U-turn, and sped towards the Hufflepuff goals.
"POTTER...POTTER...POTTER..."
James was almost there. He saw the Hufflepuff keeper drifting to the left. He raised his arm, and threw...
"POTTER SCORES....50-30....COME ON GRYFFINDOR!"
"Nice one James", called Sirius, streaking past him to meet a bludger. James beamed and took off after the Quaffle again.
After half an hour, the Gryffindor team came into full force. They were now neck and neck, with 100 points apiece. James watched as Holly scored their eleventh goal, and cheered along with his supporters. Suddenly, a crimson blur shot past him. He watched as Kelly stretched out her hand, and enclosed it around the glimmering Snitch.
Time stopped. James watched in slow motion as his team sped towards Kelly, the girls (and Jonny) in tears.
"GRYFFINDOR WIN THE CUP!"
James roared with happiness and shot towards Kelly. The team slowly floated to the ground as wave upon wave of Gryffindor supporters piled onto the pitch and ran screaming towards them.
"WE'VE WON THE CUP! WE'VE WON THE CUP!"
James felt himself being hoisted up onto the shoulders of many Gryffindors. He searched the crowd, and spotted Lily and Chris hugging tearfully and jumping up and down. He saw Remus screaming like a mad man, and Peter bouncing around chanting his friend's names. They were taken towards Professor Dumbledore, who was waiting with the shining, golden Quidditch cup. The team was lowered to the ground. Dumbledore passed the cup to Kelly, who handed it to a teary eyed Jessica, who in turn, passed it to Geoffrey. Geoffrey passed it to Sirius, who roared with pride. Sirius passed it to Holly, who was screaming at the top of her lungs, who then passed it to James. James felt his heart swell as he heard the screams. He turned to Jonny, who was sobbing profusely.
"Go on Jonny...you did it!"
Jonny took the cup, unable to find words, and lifted it into the air. James was sure he'd never feel this proud in his life, than he was right now.
~**~
"GRYFFINDOR....GRYFFINDOR...GRYFFINDOR!"
The party had been in full swing for several hours. Right now, Jonny was about to dive from a table into a crowd of students, whilst the cup was passed around to everyone in the room. Several Ravenclaws who had supported Gryffindor had turned up, and Sirius was in a rather passionate clinch with one Kate Nordell, a Ravenclaw third year, at that moment. James shook his head, and looked around the room. Holly was giving Remus and Peter a play by play account of how they won, Chris and Bridget were throwing sweets into the crowd (James had no idea where they'd gotten them all), and Lily...Lily was talking to Timothy Stebbins. James' face fell. Why was he here...and more importantly, why did he have his hand on Lily's arm. Remus glanced over to James, who seemed to be getting angrier by the minute.
"Excuse me," he said to Holly and Peter, and quickly crossed the room.
"James?"
James turned to look at Remus, and merely pointed at Lily and Tim.
Remus sighed, and chuckled, "They're talking about Charms, not exactly romantic."
James scowled, "Probably trying to find out how to Charm her into...I dunno...liking him."
Remus laughed out loud, and pulled his friend over to a seat, "The only thing that can do that is a love potion, and those are banned...calm down James, she's allowed to have friends other than Holly, Bridget and Chris."
James crossed his arms, and leant back in his chair, "Alright, but if his hand moves anywhere else on her body I won't be responsible for my actions."
Remus chortled, "I'll keep that in mind," he scanned the room, and saw Sirius and Kate 'getting to know each other' in a secluded corner.
"So, Sirius is the first one of us to snog a girl?"
"Looks like it," laughed James, though he still had a bit of a frown, "Took him long enough, he said he liked her ages ago."
"We've been pretty busy," mused Remus, "Which reminds me, I've written down some exercises for you all to do over the summer to help with the transformations."
James nodded, "Will you be coming over this summer? I know you guys couldn't last year, but the offer's still there."
Remus nodded, "I'll ask mum and dad, I'm sure they won't mind, they know your parents."
James grinned, "Brilliant, I just hope Sirius' parents and Peter's dad let them come too, it'd be great for us all to get together."
Remus nodded, "I don't see why not, they can't isolate them forever."
At around midnight, Professor McGonagall finally called the party to an end. She congratulated the team, and took the cup from them. James could have sworn she winked at him as she passed, and had a feeling she would be mentioning their win to Professor Slughorn (who had had the cup in his office for many years now) tomorrow at breakfast. The Gryffindors dragged themselves up to bed, all elated at their win. It was probably the best day of James' life so far.
~**~
All too soon, second year had come to an end. The students of Hogwarts piled onto the Hogwarts express, and spent their last magical moments changing each other's hair colour and charming pencil cases to fly through the carriages.
James, Sirius, Remus and Peter spent the afternoon chatting about their plans for the summer, the prospect of going to Hogsmeade, and the various books they had taken with them to continue the research for becoming Animagi. They also vowed not to let their night time wandering suffer next year, as they had neglected it alot due to the Animagi meetings. They were sure there were more secret passages in the school, and James was determined to find out where Chris acquired so many cakes and sweets from.
The train pulled into King Cross, and the students filed out and ran to their families, chattering excitedly about their year at Hogwarts. James spotted his parents through the crowd, and ran over to them.
"Hi mum, hi dad," he hugged his parents, and passed Merlin and his trunk to his father.
"How was school?" asked Mrs Potter.
"Brilliant! I invited Sirius, Remus and Peter over through the summer, is that alright?"
Mrs Potter nodded, "Of course, I'm dying to meet them all properly, and Sirius was a joy to have around."
"Hey James!"
James turned and spotted Remus running over to him.
"Mum and dad said I can come over sometime in the holidays!"
"That's great," grinned James, "Just owl me when you wanna come over, have you heard from the others?"
Remus shook his head, "They said they'd work on it...well...I gotta go, see ya."
He ran back to his parents and disappeared from sight. James turned back to his parents, who were waiting a little way away with his aunt, uncle, Holly and Jonny.
"Come on, we're going to Aunt Claire's first," Mr Potter announced.
"Why?" asked James.
"I was promoted...I have a seat in the Wizengamot," cried Mrs Knight, clearly unable to sustain her joy any longer.
"That's great, I'm impressed," chuckled James. Mrs Knight swatted James, and turned to head towards the barrier. Holly nudged James.
"What?"
She smiled, "Lily's there."
James turned and spotted Lily with her parents (again, no sister). The two locked eyes...and James could have sworn she wore a hint of a smile.
"Bloody hell...this has been the best year ever!"
Worth the wait? Or waste of your precious time? Let me know, as always :)
I'm off to read some more LOTR and then venture out to my friends house :) Have a great weekend everyone!
p.s Any Twilight fans out there? Would you recommend the books? I went to see the film the other day, and I thought it was great, and had a really good plot to it, and I'm toying with the idea of buying the series? So if you think it's worth it, let me know (I'm a bit strapped for cash atm, credit crunch and all, but if they're worth buying I will :) )
Grace ~
Update: I've just been through and corrected the (many) typo's that were in this chapter...I'm really sorry about that, but I haven't been feeling too well lately, and it seems to have affected my grammar skills. Thanks to Bookworm315 for putting me right :D it's very much appreciated!
