Chapter 45 Quidditch

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Please read and review! But don't ask for more frequent posts, please. I simply don't have time. It's hard enough to find the time to get one chapter a week posted. Though I am sorry this took so long. Life has been exceptionally busy the past couple of weeks. I also now understand why JKR was so happy when she didn't have to write Quidditch match scenes anymore.

James woke up early on Saturday. He got quietly out of bed to avoid waking any of the other Marauders and crept over to the window. The sun was just over the tree line of the Forbidden Forest and it looked like it was going to be a clear sunny day. James would have preferred a little more cloud cover to cut down on the glare but this was certainly an improvement over their last match which had been rainy, cold, and windy.

Quietly James changed and headed down to the Common Room. This early on a Saturday it was almost completely deserted. It was too early for breakfast so James sat in one of the armchairs by the fire with his playbook. If they won this match they could move into first place in the race for the Quidditch Cup and increase their lead in the House Cup.

When it was late enough James headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Normally he would wait for his friends or Lily but he always found it hard to sit still before Quidditch matches and he simply couldn't stay in the Common Room any longer. Lily and her friends arrived in the Great Hall when James was about half-way through his breakfast.

"Hey, Love," he said as Lily took a seat next to him.

"Morning," Lily said smiling and leaning over to give James a quick kiss.

"Morning, Katie. Marlene are you ready?" James asked.

"We're going to crush them," Marlene said confidently.

"Their Seeker is good," James said fairly.

"Yeah, but she's got nothing on Davidson," Marlene countered. "He's been in top form all year."

"Their Chasers aren't as good as ours. Our average goals scored is almost twice theirs," Lily said.

Both James and Marlene looked at her in surprise.

"How do you even know that?" Marlene asked.

"I pay attention," Lily said smugly.

"Plus, she's completely biased," Katie said with a chuckle.

"That's hardly the point," Lily replied. "We do lead them in scoring almost two to one."

"She's right," Sirius said as the rest of the Marauders arrived at breakfast.

"Thanks, Padfoot," Lily said grinning at him.

"Morning, so nice of you to join us," James said.

"Shut-it, Prongs," Sirius said.

"Good morning," Remus said sitting down with Peter and Sirius across from James, Lily, and the girls.

"You'd better win today," Sirius said. "I have a date with Madeleine and a loss would put a real damper on the whole thing."

"Honestly, you are such a prat!" Katie exclaimed.

"You can't tell me that you're just figuring that out?" Remus asked.

James and Peter both laughed.

When James finished his breakfast he looked over at Marlene.

"Are you ready to go?" James asked her.

"Yeah," Marlene said taking a final bite of her cereal.

"Good luck," Lily said smiling at James.

"Don't I get a kiss for luck?" James asked cheekily.

"Of course," Lily said with grin.

James leaned over and gave her a lingering kiss.

"Come on, Lover boy," Marlene said rolling her eyes and tugging on the back of James's robes. "We have to get to the pitch."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," James grumbled pulling away from Lily.

After James and Marlene left Sirius went to go find his date for the game. Remus and Peter walked down to the pitch with Lily and Katie. They found seats in the front row near the center of the Gryffindor side.

"I hope we win today," Katie said.

"Of course we'll win, Prongs is playing," Peter said confidently.

"There are six other people on the team besides him," Katie said in a voice that clearly expressed she thought his theory was ridiculous.

"I hope the glare isn't a problem," Remus said in an effort to change the subject.

"The glare is intense today." Lily said. "But as long as they don't fly into the sun they should be fine."

"We aren't shooting towards the sun, so that's a plus," Katie said.

"Here they come!" Peter exclaimed as the two teams entered the pitch.

James led the Gryffindor team out onto the pitch.

"Good conditions today," he said. "The ground isn't muddy like last time so that will give us a good take off."

"So much better than the last match," Davidson said. "I will actually be able to see the Snitch when it's more than a foot away."

"Just watch out for the sun," James said. "Try and keep your back to it. If we can force them to fly into the sun it will give us an advantage."

"Marlene and Roger, keep an eye on Flaherty, I've been watching him in the other matches, he has exceptional aim with a Bludger," James told them.

"We know this, James. You've told us a hundred times already," Marlene said rolling her eyes.

"Well, don't forget," James replied. "I don't fancy any of us getting knocked off our brooms today."

"You worry too much, Potter," Rogers said.

"If I were you I'd be more worried about what Lily will do to you if you let him get hurt," Dahlia, the sixth year Chaser, said with a grin.

Everyone but James laughed.

"Let's focus on the match," James said with a roll of his eyes leading the team out to the middle of the pitch.

"Captains shake hands," Madame Hooch said.

James shook hands with the Hufflepuff captain.

"On my whistle," Madame Hooch said.

As her whistle sounded 14 brooms sped into the air.

James saw Gryffindor's third chaser Mark Diggle grab the Quaffle.

"And Diggle has the Quaffle. He's heading towards the Hufflepuff goals."

James followed Diggle on his left while Dahlia flew slightly behind Diggle on his right. Suddenly, James saw Hufflepuff's beater, Flaherty, aim a Bludger straight at Diggle.

"On your right!" James called.

Diggle, looked up and saw the Bludger followed by Marlene coming straight for him. He quickly reverse passed to Dahlia who caught the Quaffle and swerved to avoid the Bludger. Marlene caught up to the Bludger and shot it at one of the Hufflepuff Chasers who was closing in on Dahlia. Dahlia pulled up suddenly to avoid the Hufflepuff Chaser and passed the Quaffle to James who caught it on the tips of this fingers.

James shot towards the Hufflepuff's hoops dodging a Bludger as he went. James feigned a shot at the left hoop and then sent the Quaffle soaring towards the right hoop. The Hufflepuff's Keeper fell for James's trick and the Quaffle went sailing through the right hoop.

"Gryffindor scores!" screamed the announcer.

The Gryffindor supporters were on their feet. Less than a minute in and Gryffindor had already scored. James glanced over at Lily and grinned at her.

Hufflepuff gained control of the Quaffle. James shot off after the Hufflepuff Chaser. A Bludger came flying out of nowhere to his right and he used the sloth grip roll narrowly avoiding being unseated.

"That was close," Katie said.

Hufflepuff scored.

The match continued and after an hour the score was 300-200 in favor of Gryffindor.

"I hope Davidson catches the Snitch soon," Peter said.

"MacDonald drops the Quaffle and it's caught by Potter. Potter dodges a Bludger, he dodges a Chaser. Potter shoots and he scores! And it's 310 to 200 in favor of Gryffindor."

Lily cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindors.

"I think Davidson's seen the Snitch!" the announcer shouted.

As one all the eyes in the stadium turned to Davidson, who had suddenly gone into a dive.

"Yes, and O'Donald is catching up. It's going to be a close one."

Lily was leaning over the edge of the barrier trying to see the Seekers as they raced towards the Snitch from opposite ends of the pitch.

"And Davidson catches the Snitch! Gryffindor wins! 460 to 200!"

The Gryffindor supporters erupted in tumultuous applause as the team flew towards Davidson. The win put Gryffindor in the lead for the Quidditch Cup and increased their lead, significantly, in the House Cup.

Lily made her way down from the stands to meet James closely followed by Katie, Remus, and Peter. As they reached the ground Sirius and his date Madeleine caught up with them.

"Hey, Padfoot, hey Madeleine," Lily greeted.

"You must be so happy we won," Katie said glaring at Sirius.

Sirius grinned cheekily back.

"Yes, we won," Remus said before Katie or Sirius could start an argument. "This calls for a party."

"Definitely!" Peter agreed.

As they were talking the Gryffindor team emerged from the locker room.

"WE WON!" James shouted as he picked Lily up and spun her around in a circle.

Lily laughed as they spun. James's excitement was infectious. He put her down and kissed her resulting in whistles and catcalls from the Gryffindors.

"Party in the Common Room!" James announced wrapping his arm around Lily's waist and pulling her to him.

Lily just laughed in response wrapping an arm around James.

Peter and Remus disappeared somewhere between the pitch and the Common Room but returned a short while later with more than enough food for everyone. How they had gotten it all back, without getting caught, Lily had no idea. Even with the map and the cloak, it was still a lot to carry.

When she asked Remus replied, "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Lily burst out laughing at this while Peter and James looked at them both like they were crazy.

"Aren't magicians those Muggles who pretend they can do magic?" James asked.

"Yes," Lily replied laughing. "And if you ask them how they do their tricks that's what they usually say."

"Which is ridiculous because they sell books on how to do a lot of their tricks," Remus said chuckling.

James stared at both of them looking perplexed. Lily laughed again and leaned over to kiss him. James responded with enthusiasm.

"Ahem!" Marlene cleared her throat loudly.

"Yes?" Lily asked innocently.

"Do you mind, some of us are trying to eat," Marlene said.

"Not at all. The pumpkin pasties look delicious," Lily said grinning cheekily.

"Clearly I should win at Quidditch more often," James whispered in Lily's ear wrapping his arms tightly around her.

Lily smiled flirtatiously back.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" James asked.

"Sure," Lily replied.

"See you guys later," James said taking Lily's hand and helping her up off the couch.

Lily and James left Gryffindor Tower and headed down towards the lake. As they walked James brought Lily's hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

"I love you," he said quietly.

"I love you, too, James," Lily said the smile on her face growing. It never ceased to amaze her how sweet he could be.

James released her hand and slid his arm over her shoulder. Lily reached her right hand up and grasped James's hand that was resting on her shoulder leaned her head against James's shoulder.

"I can't believe we only have three months of school left," James said. He leaned his head closer to Lily's and kissed her temple.

"It's a little scary isn't it," Lily replied.

"Terrifying," James agreed. "I still have no idea what I want to do."

"You're brilliant, you can have your choice of jobs," Lily said.

"Yeah, but I don't just want to have a job. I want to do something worthwhile and that I enjoy," James said.

"You'll figure it out," Lily said confidently.

"Thanks, Love," James replied.

James reached over with his left hand placing his fingers gently on Lily's chin and turning her head so he could kiss her. They stopped walking and Lily released his hand so she could turn and face him properly. James brushed the fingers on her chin gently up her jawline and tangled his hand in her hair. His other hand slid down from her shoulder and came to rest at her waist.

Lily slid her hands up his chest one coming to rest on his shoulder the other playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. James used the hand on Lily's waist to pull her closer deepening their kiss. James stopped kissing Lily's mouth and moved his mouth to her jaw line. Lily tilted her head to allow him better access. Several minutes, or possibly several sunlit days, later they broke apart. Both of them breathing rather heavily.

"That," Lily said quietly, "Was amazing."

"Mmmm, I quite agree," James said giving Lily his heart-melting smile.

"I love you, James Potter," Lily said quietly.

"I love you, too, Lily Evans," James replied back still smiling.

Lily's arms were still wrapped around James's neck and she used them to pull herself closer; burying her head in his chest. James wrapped his arms tightly around her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Lily sighed contentedly. She would be quite happy to spend eternity just like this. Wrapped in James's arms. She inhaled deeply enjoying the smell that was distinctly James.

She still found it hard to believe that she could feel this way about James Potter. If anyone had told her a year ago that she would be in love with James Lily would have sent them straight to Madame Pomfrey to have their head examined. But now she couldn't imagine her life without him. He wasn't perfect but he was perfect for her.

"What are we going to do when we graduate and have to leave?" James said with a sigh. "How am I going to stand not seeing you every day?"

"Let's not talk about that right now," Lily replied. "It's too horrible to contemplate. Worse than N.E.W.T.s."

James chuckled. Merlin, he loved her. How was he going to survive after they left Hogwarts? The time they had been separated while she was in the hospital wing had been bad enough. How could he possibly go days without seeing her? She was right, it was too horrible a thought to contemplate.