I just realized I forgot to ask: what did you guys think of the last episode? I thought it was EXCELLENT! First of all, Spencer was on top of her game in terms of one-liners. Second of all, HALEB! Third of all, Ezra made me want to curl up into a ball and cry for hours when he found out about Malcolm not being his. I was talking about someone with this, and we agree that what makes it so heartbreaking is that he has literally lost everything: his wealth, his job, and Aria, all for this 7-year-old that he can't even call his. "You let me fall in love with him." My heart DX and fourth: Mona. Always Mona. That scene with Mrs. Hastings and Mona was like a litter of puppies yapping at a cat, and the cat just rolling its eyes (I got that off of twitter, from a lovely #BooRadleyVanCullen participant). Mona is the cat of course :) and of course, the fact that Wren was there was an ultimate plus! 10 stars, man, 10 stars.
Alright, people have been anxious to know what the references are, so I'm gonna list them here:
"What are nargles?" "No idea." 5th movie. Luna and everyone, and then Harry and Cho.
"... slammed doors in his face when they were tired of looking at him." 3x23 when Caleb is screaming at his dad (such a great scene, btw)
"Most of my life I've felt alone, even when I was with people. That is, until I met her." 2x01 (Congrats to GoldenHeart11 and Ava B for getting this one!)
And shout out to Sgdp1261 and Ava B for catching the Pokemon reference in the side note at the end of the chapter :) that wasn't even intentional, but it was hilarious that you guys pointed it out!
And now your reviews (of which majority were incredibly long, and I LOVED! Thank you all so much!):
PrettyWitchyVamp: Oh... my god. Your review made me DIE it was so funny. You had me at friendship bracelets and "Caleb Rivers. #1 Ezria Shipper" (although he'll have to get through the actual biggest Ezria shipper on the show, Spencer Hastings, to earn that title). I'm glad you liked how their friendship was being portrayed! You'll see a lot more of it in future chapters. And haha, Aria is quite the opposite of nonchalant, but then again so am I so who am I to judge? And ooh, rough. Well, it's not your fault; it's that rascal Harry Potter's fault for naming his kid after his deceased father! So much confusion. The kids really should just go by their middle names, shouldn't they? Thank you so much for all your kind words once again!
GoldenHeart11: Wow, thank you so much! I do love me some Caleb, so it's good to know he's being portrayed well in this story :) I love when the liars interact with each other's spouses as well, which is why I was so excited when Caleb and Aria ended up in the same house! It was just so PERFECT!
Sgdp1261: I love Caleb so much and I'm gonna be so sad when he leaves the show for Ravenswood :( and agreed about magic being so spontaneous and awesome. That's why we've all wished we were wizards at some point, right? And hahaha, that made me laugh so much. Yes, Aria can do that... OR she can just trick Hanna into stealing it for her! And I did see that necklace! I didn't think of this story though; I was thinking of how cool it was that I was wearing basically the same outfit to work today! Except it was a jean shirt and a red tank, but a similar necklace! And you will never bore me, I love long reviews! Make them as long as you please, because I'm gonna read it all anyway!
erica: thanks! Hope you like this upcoming chapter as well!
UngluckLiebhaber: Wow! That makes me so happy to hear that a non-Harry Potter fan likes this! Luna's one of my favorites as well. She's definitely in my top 5; right up there with Hermoine, Sirius Black, Professor McGonagall, and TONKS! That would've been cool, but since the parents aren't really in this story, it'd be a waste of Ella Piper Montgomery's amazing powers. Better to save us from that grief and just let her not have powers at all. But Aria's just like any old Hermoine Granger: she's not gonna let her Muggleborn-ness define her. She's just as much of a wizard as everyone else, and a damn good one at that ;) however, that doesn't mean people aren't going to bring it up, so you'll get to see how that affects her in the long run! And this story is AU, so they all just grew up in the UK (probably the colonies, though, where I heard there are some people without accents), and all grew up going to Hogwarts. Does that make sense?
Titanium Wolf: WOW that is a pen name. I love it! Thank you so much! And you'll find out all about Emily's love life in this upcoming chapter ;)
Ava B: Huh, I never thought of that Harry Potter line! It would make sense, though. I see a lot of similarities between Harry and Caleb in terms of their backgrounds :) and right? I think Aria and Caleb are also very similar personality-wise; both are incredibly sassy, smart, and protective of the people that matter in their lives, so I guess that's why their friendship works so well!
LAs: I think that after Spencer, she's the smartest! I can think of several instances where she's come up with an insanely cool way to get into or out of a situation. And as for your last question... you just have to keep reading! :)
Now, before I move onto this next chapter (MAN these ANs are getting long), I have a question for you all: most of you seem to be relatively big Potterheads, so I wanna know what house y'all are in! Just so I can get a feel for all of my lovely readers :) so with that, please review with what house you were sorted into/consider yourself to be sorted into!
"Alright, wizards. 5 minutes, and we're starting!"
It was the next day, and MacKenzie Albright, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, was standing in the middle of the field with a sea of red and gold surrounding him as students stretched out their muscles and polished their brooms, preparing for tryouts. Emily stood at the far end of the field, directly under the three goal posts, tying her hair back with a scrunchie as she took slow, calming breaths. She had been on the team since she was a first year, so she knew she had no reason to be nervous, but that message didn't send on to the rapidly fluttering butterflies in her stomach. It didn't stop the synapses in her brain from working overtime, trying to quell her nervous energy.
"Look alive, Fields!" an energetic voice shouted through the air. Emily's head snapped up, as did her hand when she saw the Golden Snitch zip towards her. With her hand in midair, she managed to catch it dead on. She gripped the Snitch proudly as she raised her head to take in the sight of the thrower. "Nice try, Paige."
Paige McCullers threw her brown hair behind her left shoulder as she jumped down from a step high up in the bleachers, her robe flowing majestically behind her, landing right on the balls of her feet as she did so. She walked over to Emily, a wide, smitten grin gracing every inch of her face as she held her broom out beside her. "Who am I kidding?" she said with a shrug, admiration clear in her tone. "I can't get you. You're too good."
Emily felt the color start to rise to her olive cheeks. "It's only because I've been practicing with my dad all summer," she confessed.
"Really, now?" Paige said, clearly amused. "Looks like someone's really gunning for Seeker this year?"
Emily just crossed her arms. "I guess so," she said passively.
Paige just gave her a confused look. "Em, you've gotten it every year in the past. You don't have to beat yourself up over it when you know you're going to get it."
"But I don't know..." Emily said unsurely.
"Why do you doubt yourself?" Paige asked, in pure awe of how her girlfriend could be so humble and oblivious to how amazing she was, especially at Quidditch.
Emily glanced over to the other side of the field, where a smaller girl with dark brown hair and forest green eyes was in a V-sit position on the ground, bending forward to reach her toes and stretch out her back. Paige followed her gaze, and then sighed in understanding. "Emily," she said compassionately as she reached over for her chin, pressing the tip of her finger against it as she turned Emily's head toward her. "Do you really think you're going to lose to Lily Potter?"
"I don't know," Emily said as she looked downward, suddenly finding the hem of her robe very interesting.
"Em, she's a Keeper. She's always been!"
"Yeah, but she tries out for Seeker every year," Emily argued, looking back over to Lily, who had gotten off of the ground and was now stretching her arms over her head.
"But she's a fourth year," Paige reasoned. "She's got nothing on you!"
"She's damn good, though," Emily admitted as she leaned against one of the goal posts, throwing her head back with a sigh.
"Well, yeah, of course she's good," Paige agreed. "She wouldn't have made the team if she wasn't. I mean, look at who her dad is! Harry Potter? The kid who caught the Snitch in his mouth when he was just a first year?"
"How could I forget?" Emily mumbled bitterly. She remembered it all from the updated version of Quidditch Through the Ages, which Madam Hooch used to make them read in Flying class. Before Harry Potter had saved the wizarding world, he was a talented Quidditch player, and some even said he could've easily caught the Snitch in his sleep. Emily already knew all of this. But why was Paige telling her this now?
As though Paige could read Emily's mind, she slinkily took a step toward her, taking her time in sliding her arms along Emily's toned waistline to meet at the small of her back, interlocking her fingers into each other in order to will herself to never let go. Emily felt a shiver run up her spine as Paige leaned in toward Emily's ear.
"Just because she has the talent, doesn't mean she has the drive," she purred. "But I know for a fact that you have both."
Her voice was calming, loving, sexy even. Emily felt herself go weak in the knees, but Paige held her up, her face a mere inch from hers. The two just stood there, in as close quarters as they could possibly be, relishing in each other's company.
It was perfect. Paige was perfect. And the moment was nothing but perfect. Until...
"Fields! McCullers!" MacKenzie shouted. "Get your asses over here, we're about to start!"
Paige and Emily broke apart, slightly disoriented, and even a little annoyed, that they had to be interrupted. Emily turned toward Paige nervously. "Kiss for good luck?"
Paige threw her head back in laughter before bringing it down to give Emily a quick, yet meaningful, peck on the lips. "Not that you'll need it," she mumbled once she pulled away, before darting off to be with the rest of the people trying out to be Beaters.
Emily stared longingly after her, until she reluctantly started walking over to the Seekers.
MacKenzie did a few drills with the people trying out for each position. He tested the strength of the Beaters first by throwing Bludgers at them, testing how they could fend them off and how far they could hit them (Paige hit each one, sending it straight toward the other side of the field). He had the Chasers pass the Quaffle back and forth to each other, taking turns throwing it towards the goals, which were guarded by whichever Keeper was in position. Lily Potter was up last, and managed to block all except for one. Emily had a feeling her missing one was her version of not trying in order to make an even bigger impression when she tried for Seeker. Sure enough, when Lily was actually up for Seeker, MacKenzie tested their reflexes, throwing the Snitch at each of them to see if they could catch it, and Lily was able to snatch even the hardest throws. Emily was able to catch them, too, but she faltered on the last one.
"Don't worry about it, you did great!" Paige said encouragingly as she came up to a seemingly anxious Emily afterward, giving her a pat on the back. Emily smiled, but she still wasn't sure. Could this be the year that Lily finally beat her?
"Alright, last on the list: Scrimmage!" MacKenzie shouted. He went through the list of people, sorting them into separate teams. When he got to Emily's name, he looked up.
"Fields, I'm going to put you as a Seeker up against Potter," he commanded before walking away, not sticking around to see Emily's heart skip a beat, before promptly rising into her throat.
Lily turned to Emily, a warm smile on her face. "Good luck!" she said genuinely, extending her hand for Emily to shake.
"Thanks," Emily said uneasily as she shook it. "You, too."
Lily was a nice girl, sure, but Emily couldn't help but feel like she was obliviously full of herself. It was understandable, since it was probably thrust upon her with who her parents were, not to mention her older brothers, James and Albus, full of charm and wit and popularity that stretched on forever. But if she didn't even realize it, which seemed to be the case, then Emily supposed it was okay. Still, she didn't feel comfortable with the idea of Lily getting Seeker when Emily had worked so hard to get it.
"Line up," MacKenzie commanded. "Brooms at the ready. And... GO!"
All fourteen people shot up into the air into their positions. Emily remained stationary on the side of the field once she had flown up, a technique she always used to guarantee that she was out of the way of the other players so that she could keep an eye out for the Snitch without meeting any obstacles.
The game stretched on, with Paige and Emily's team neck and neck with the other team at 50:40, the other team being in the lead. Emily squinted, looking over to the other side of the field to see Lily keeping her eyes open for the Snitch as well. Emily suddenly got nervous; what if she was closer to the Snitch than Emily was? Apprehensively, Emily started to make her way over to where Lily was. Until she saw it.
There, in the middle of the field, wings rapidly beating like those of a hummingbird, was the Golden Snitch.
Emily looked over, to see if Lily had caught sight of it yet. But Lily's eyes were in a completely different direction entirely. She hadn't seen it at all.
I have to be careful about this, Emily thought strategically. I need to grab it before she sees it. I can't be too late.
In one quick movement, Emily made her way over to the middle of the field, ready to grab the Snitch. But right when she thought she had it...
"Emily, look out!" Paige shouted, and when Emily looked in her direction, a Bludger was coming at her full force. Emily quickly darted out of the way as the Bludger narrowly missed her, but when she looked to where the Snitch was, she found the spot empty.
Emily whipped around on her broom, and saw the Snitch about 20 feet from where it originally was. Unfortunately, about 20 feet from that, she saw Lily Potter, zooming full force toward the Snitch.
Emily leapt into action, diving toward the Snitch as fast as she could on her old Cleansweep Twenty-Six broom, but Lily had the Firebolt (she always talked about how she had to keep it in mint condition since it belonged to her father). Even though it was almost thirty years old, the Firebolt was a timeless classic that had stayed in the business up to this day; at whatever speed Emily could go at, Lily could go twice as fast. The two girls were nearly at the Snitch, simultaneously reaching out for it, but the Snitch had a mind of its own. As soon as they met in the middle, the Snitch zipped away before either could grasp it.
Without even stopping to take a breath, Emily went after it, neck and neck with Lily, who had paused for a second to instinctively collect herself, but then sped up after Emily, nearly catching up to her. They raced against each other, getting closer and closer to the Snitch, until...
"And that's the game! Fields wins!" MacKenzie shouted, pumping his fist in the air as everyone on Emily's team cheered. Everyone lowered to the ground, congratulating each other on a terrific evaluation session and wishing each other luck for when the positions were decided.
"You did it!" Paige exclaimed, dropping her broom to the ground as she ran over to Emily, kissing her passionately once she reached her.
They eventually pulled apart, and Emily beamed at Paige as she held the Snitch in her hand. "I bet it was that good luck kiss you gave me," Emily gushed, poking Paige in the shoulder.
"Nah." Paige brushed off the comment as she waved her hand through the air. "It was all you!"
They traded off compliments on each others performances as they walked over to the circle, laughing and smiling, until they were brutally interrupted.
Lily Potter grabbed the Snitch out of Emily's hands forcefully before throwing it as far and as hard as she could all the way to the other side of the field.
"Hey!" Emily shouted, watching as the Snitch bounced onto the grass several yards away.
Paige turned her back to the Snitch as she turned to Lily. "What's your problem?" she snapped. "No one likes a sore loser!"
"I'm not a sore loser, I was saving her life!" Lily snapped back. "Were you two really too busy to see that it was smoking?"
"What are you talking about?" Emily asked, confusion and frustration clear in her voice. Lily pointed to where the Snitch was, like she had something to prove, and Emily and Paige whipped around to look at it. It was emitting smoke, which was steadily rising up into the air, high above the heads of the students.
"Everybody duck!" MacKenzie shouted, and all of the players dropped to the ground without even thinking about it. Just as they had all reached the ground, there was a loud boom, echoing throughout the entire field.
Emily waited 10 seconds before slowly rising from the ground. She held out her hand to Paige, who grabbed it and got up off the ground as well. MacKenzie rose from the ground, too, and, like a true Gryffindor, started to walk toward the site of the explosion. Emily followed, as did Paige, but not without looking back to give Lily a this-isn't-over glare.
MacKenzie picked the singed Snitch up off of the ground, studying it intently. He then groaned loudly. "It's burnt!" he exclaimed angrily. "The Snitch is burnt!"
Emily gawked, in shock. That had never happened before. The Snitch didn't just explode like that.
He then looked up, shooting daggers at Emily, as though the whole thing was her fault. He walked over to her, smacking the Snitch into her hand. "Here," he said shortly. "You can have it now."
Emily stared down at the Snitch, truly confused. Paige looked at it, too, until Emily looked up at Paige in fear. "What do we do now?" she said worriedly.
"Relax," Paige said mellowly, trying to calm Emily down. "They can get a new Snitch. And it's not like the whole thing is your fault."
"Albright sure is going out of his way to make it seem like it is," Emily muttered bitterly. Paige sighed, at a loss for words. She really didn't know how to deal with a situation like this, so she just gave Emily a firm pat on the shoulder and walked away, claiming she'd see what she could do.
Emily stared after her, but then shook her head, looking back down at the Snitch. It's polished, golden texture had turned to a singed grey-black. But there was something else that was off about it.
Right along the side of the Snitch, Emily noticed a small crack. She ran her index finger along it, trying to find some sort of opening, before it immediately popped open, revealing something inside.
Emily felt her blood run cold as her eyes were met with the sight of a fang, an identical fang to the one that was in Spencer's shepherd's pie, with a dark red 'A' carved into it.
Side note: These two... I can't even describe how fun this chapter was to write. I had a lot of inspiration since I wrote it at the beginning of season 4, when there was that AMAZING Paily scene in the pilot :D And Lily Potter! She isn't a bitch at all, Emily and Paige just see her how Ron saw Harry sometimes; just kinda CAUGHT UP in it. It helps that we never got a feel for Lily's personality, so hopefully I don't get accused of making her OOC or anything like that. But anyway, this is for all the Paily fans out there. Hope you enjoyed! And if you did, REVIEW! If you didn't... REVIEW ANYWAY! Much love to all of you!
