And here's Chapter 8! I really hope you guys enjoyed this one. I wasn't quite sure how to write the quidditch match, but I hope it turned out alright. Thanks for reading again!
"Ready for the match boys?" Fleamont shouted from the kitchen downstairs.
"Yeah Dad!" James shouted, enthusiastic as ever, decked out in a full set of Puddlemere United quidditch robes, pins, the works. Sirius, James and Remus were standing together in James' bedroom putting on the finishing touches to their looks for the match that day. James was messing with his hair and touching up the paint which adorned his face in the Puddlemere United colors. Sirius chose to go for a more subtle look than James, donning a T-shirt with the team colors and jeans, along with his trusty leather jacket of course, asserting the muggle look in rebellion as usual. Remus was wearing his favorite oversized sweater, still reeking of cigarette smoke, along with a simple Puddlemere United pin in the corner. It was on the beginning of such a simple day when disaster struck. This happened when poor naïve Peter, who had left about ten minutes before to get ready in the bathroom down the hall, walked into James' bedroom in full Chudley Cannons gear, and all hell broke loose.
"What the hell is this Wormtail?!" James all but screeched, while Sirius laughed uproariously. Peter, meanwhile, looked down at himself in confusion.
"What? I've always loved the Cannons." Peter said.
"Wormy, this is the wrong house to say that in." Sirius replied, with a mischievous grin plastered across his face.
"I honestly can't even look at you right now. Padfoot you hold him down while Moony locks the door." James said.
"Come on, are you serious mate?" Remus spoke up.
"He's Sirius I'm James." James said without missing a beat. "Now, Wormtail is fully welcome to attend the match, but only if he changes out of this blasphemous attire."
"Prongs, don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?" Remus asked, ever the peacemaker.
"I am not. This is a Puddlemere United household, and I will not have the Cannons besmirching their holy name."
This argument continued for at least thirty minutes James insisting they leave Peter at home, Remus trying to find a compromise, while Sirius laughed and stoked the flames of both arguments. Finally, James' mother came upstairs insisting that if they didn't leave this minute, they would miss the Portkey for the match. And this is how they came to a compromise with a very unhappy James pouting in the back of the group as Peter remained in a simple Chudley Cannons team sweater, having ditched the rest of his ensemble for the sake of argument. Remus, for his part, still wore his Puddlemere united pin along with a Chudley Cannons rosette that Peter had let him borrow, remaining neutral which infuriated James even more than Peter's blatant disrespect for "the greatest team in England's history." Luckily, Sirius' rowdy attitude, along with Fleamont's cheerful demeanor were able to pull James out of his bad mood by the time they arrived at the Portkey, a crushed soda can about a mile off of the Potter's expansive property. They each put a finger on the can, making it just on time to be transported to the hill where the match was being held.
The boys walked across the field, following the crowd towards the large stadium with its muggle repelling charms and exhausted ministry workers.
"This is nothing compared to the world cup in '64. It's the last time it was played in England. Wizards from across the world were trampling over one another to get tickets, sleeping out in tents for weeks before the match. The ministry swore they'd never host another world cup. James here was just four years old, but he was screaming louder than most of the adults in those stands."
"I can imagine. Oi Prongs, it must have felt good to be considered an acceptable age to wet yourself from the excitement of a quidditch match, right?" Sirius replied with an elbow thrown his way from James.
"It was brilliant. I wish I could remember more than a bunch of bright lights and loud people. I'd give anything to be able to replay that memory." James said, evidently lost in the brief four-year-old flashes of memory that he had retained from witnessing such an exciting event so much so that he didn't even notice as he ran into…
"Evans?" Sirius spoke up before James could react.
"Potter?" Lily said, looking at James who was still standing back in shock.
"Wonderful to see you Evans, I didn't know you liked quidditch." Sirius said.
"Oh, come off it, I'm here with Marlene."
"Hey there Marlene!" Sirius called out to which Marlene sauntered over in response.
"Sirius, how are you?"
"Alright. And you?"
Before Marlene could respond Lily spoke up.
"Well, we better be getting to our seats."
Lily made the mistake of holding up their tickets, causing Sirius to quickly block their escape while James grabbed the tickets from her outstretched hand.
"Hey!"
"Damn. You guys are almost at the bottom." James commented.
"We can't all afford box seats like you Potter." Lily replied.
"Hello there,"
Mr. Potter approached the group having stood back at an acceptable distance and conversed with a couple old friends in the meantime.
"Friends of James and Sirius, are you?"
"Not exactly," Lily replied to which Marlene shoved her.
"Well, it's lovely to meet you all the same." Fleamont replied, a knowing glint in his eye.
"Where are you seated then?"
"Ring 2." Marlene replied, the disappointment evident in her voice.
"Well, if you'd like to join us our box does have plenty of room."
"I…" Lily quickly moved to deny this request before Marlene interrupted her: "That would be brilliant. Thanks!"
"Wonderful." Mr. Potter replied, "Come along then." He gestured to the kids, Lily cursing Marlene as she followed reluctantly.
"I'll lead the way." Sirius said, quickly making his way towards the two girls, putting an arm out which Marlene quickly took.
James offered Lily his own arm, but she just rolled her eyes moving back to talk with Remus. James shrugged it off, catching up to Sirius and Marlene.
The group arrived at the stadium with only ten minutes left before the match began, prompting James to begin picking up the pace to the protests of his fellows.
"Come on Prongs wait up!" Sirius called.
"I don't want to miss anything." James replied, nearly jogging now to make it to the stairs which would lead to the Potter's own top box.
Fleamont shook his head, stopping at the bottom of the stairs to turn to the others.
"I'm going to apparate to the top box. These old legs don't take too well to climbing like they used to." And with that James' father was gone with a wave of his wand and a loud crack.
The gang watched as James began climbing without hesitation, looking up into the catacombs of the stadium with trepidation at how many flights they would be climbing. By the eighteenth flight James could hear Peter huffing and puffing something fierce behind him. He turned around to check in on the boy who was clutching a stitch in his side, but only briefly before continuing his ascent.
"You've really got to lay off the cakes Wormy." Sirius said, although he was breathing rather heavily as well.
"You're one to talk." Remus spoke up in between breaths from the back, his and Sirius' lungs having been hacked up pretty well by the amount of smoking they both did.
Lily laughed a little bit at Remus' snarky comment before having to double over to catch her own breath, Marlene falling prey to the same fate after laughing at her friend's misfortune.
James was the only one climbing with hardly a deep breath to be heard being in excellent shape from the many hours of quidditch practice he put in along with his morning runs to stay in shape for…well…quidditch.
After twenty-five flights of stairs the group finally made it to the top, Peter lying down in a heap with Sirius and Remus bending at the knees to catch their own breath. James didn't even stop to look back making his way to the front row of seats where his father was already seated next to a handful of wealthy friends of the Potters who had come from their own boxes to visit and discuss some business matters. James couldn't care less about that though as the announcer of the match began his commentary.
"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the final match of the season for the British league. Please give a warm round of applause to the visiting Chudley Cannons!"
A loud number of boos rose from one half of the stands while a number of cheers came from the opposite section.
"And we have Atkinson, Cole, Fletcher, Grant, Harris, Lewis, and…Wilson!"
Peter cheered loudly for his team waving a Chudley Cannons flag he'd purchased from a vendor outside of the stadium while James booed passionately waiting for the next team to be announced.
"And introducing your Puddlemere United players, Clarke, Dawson, Hall, Jones, Kallaway, Taylor, and…Zeller!"
The cheers were deafening for the home team, James screaming among the loudest despite having no vocal enhancement like many of the adult wizards around him.
"And our referee for the match, former seeker for the Holyhead Harpies, Glynnis Griffiths!"
An older witch came out of the stadium to massive applause holding up her broom with pride and beaming at the large crowd screaming her name. She had been a massive player in her day and had decided to spend her retired years refereeing the game she had played and loved for so long.
"Please release the balls." The announcer said with a relish to which two assistants on the field moved to the chest barely holding back two black bludgers and the famous golden snitch. They unlocked the bludgers first.
"And there go the bludgers, better watch out for those folks. Our own Robert Zeller is famous for his ability to knock even the best of flyers off their brooms."
The next ball to be released was the snitch which flew around each of the seekers before taking off somewhere into the blue sky, with puffy white clouds covering the sun. James watched the snitch with great interest, having always wished to be a seeker on the Gryffindor quidditch team despite the position being continuously snatched from him, with his teammates convinced he was a much better chaser than seeker.
"And off goes the snitch, one more ball to release. Please will you throw up the quaffle so we might start the match?"
With a slight pause Griffiths walked forward and quick as a flash threw the quaffle in the air with a tweet of her whistle signaling the start of the game.
"And they're off with the Cannons winning the tip. And it's Atkinson with the quaffle, off to Grant, and to Harris, back to Atkinson and the first shot at the ring and it is saved by Puddlemere United keeper Zachary Dawson."
A great number of cheers rose in favor of Dawson at that including many from James' side of the pitch.
"Dawson was a reserve player just last season, only nineteen years old and thrust into a match against the Harpies late in the game when old veteran Potts received a nasty bludger to the head. He helped Puddlemere to the semifinals in the cup last year and might be able to carry them all the way if he plays his cards right in this match. And now the quaffle is making its way back to the other end of the pitch. It's thrown to Hall by Jones, back to Jones and to Hall, these two are so in sync this season, and Kallaway open by the goalposts, Hall tosses to Kallaway and he makes it past Cole for the first goal for Puddlemere United!"
A cheer to rattle the stadium arose from the Puddlemere side with shouts of "Kallaway, Kallaway, Kallaway" filling the place. Kallaway smiled, a pretty boy on all accounts, offering a handstand on his broom to which the stadium went wild until Fletcher sent a bludger his way, nearly knocking him off. Hall hit him on the head for being so foolish and the Puddlemere side booed, but Griffiths made no call against the play deeming it viable.
"Oh, come on that was breaking!" James shouted along with a number of others calling out the obvious foul.
"What's that again Prongs?" Peter asked.
"Hitting a bludger at a chaser within the ten second grace period after he scores." James explained as if it was obvious. Peter nodded, but within moments the chasers were off again.
It was a lot of back and forth from then on with Kallaway scoring two more quick goals followed by two goals by Jones. With Puddlemere United fifty points up the Cannons began to play a little dirtier. The bludgers were being hit harder with every play, Lewis and Fletcher even teaming up for the Dopplebeater Defence in which they both hit a bludger at the same time for extra power towards Kallaway hitting him hard in the leg which snapped with a nasty crack. There were groans from the Puddlemere United side as their beloved Kallaway's leg had to be mended giving the Cannons the advantage with Atkinson scoring a quick two goals beating out Dawson.
"Oh, and the score has risen to twenty to fifty with those two goals, but Kallaway's leg seems to have been mended and he is back in the game!"
The crowd cheered once again.
"And do my eyes deceive me? It looks like Wilson has spotted the snitch! It could be all over. Taylor is chasing after him. They're neck and neck, and…a well-placed bludger by Zeller has knocked Wilson off course."
James was gnawing at his fingernails at this point, and failed to realize that just two seats behind him Lily Evans was doing the exact same thing.
"And we are back at it with the quaffle being thrown to Atkinson back to Grant and to Harris who makes to try and score, and it was a fake out! It's back to Atkinson with the throw, and Atkinson scores!"
The Chudley Cannons side cheered loudly once again. Dawson didn't look happy at that fake out and seemed all the more determined to keep his position.
"And the quaffle is back to the cannons, but it is knocked out of Atkinson's hand by a nicely placed bludger by Zeller once again. And it is picked up by Hall who throws to Jones who throws back to Hall who moves to score, and it is saved by Chudley Cannons' keeper Cole! Cole is an old veteran far from the fresh-faced Dawson looking to prove himself across the pitch. And the quaffle is back in Puddlemere's possession with Hall to Jones to Kallaway who throws it towards Jones only to be knocked off course by another bludger hit by Clarke this time and caught by Atkinson! And oh, a nasty bludger from Zeller nails Atkinson right in the nose. That is a lot of blood folks I believe Atkinson's going to have to get that handled while the others continue play. And things are getting heated now folks with the quaffle fiercely exchanging hands. It's Hall and Jones and Kallaway, back to Jones, but look at this there's been a whistle on the play. And Harris is hit with a foul for cobbing against Jones. Jones will be able to take a penalty throw."
"Cobbing?" Peter asked again.
"Excessive elbows," James replied, distracted as he focused on Jones moving to make the penalty throw.
James was so enthralled by the game he didn't notice Sirius watching him with a pitying look, glancing at Marlene who he had been whispering back and forth with all afternoon.
"One minute darling," James, still focused on the penalty throw, vaguely heard Sirius' voice, but cheered along with the rest when Jones made it past Cole bringing the score up to 30-60.
"James." Sirius said flipping some hair out of his eyes, shaking his best friend's shoulder.
"Yeah, Padfoot?" James said distractedly.
"We're sitting in the top box at a quidditch match with the two most beautiful girls in our year."
James nodded, feigning attention.
"And you're sitting there staring at a bunch of wankers on broomsticks."
"It's the biggest game of the season Pads. This determines if we move on to the first round of the finals."
"And you see, I get that, but," Sirius pointed at Lily sitting between Peter and Remus with the same glint of feigned interest at something or other that Peter was talking about, eyes trained on the pitch. "Lily Evans is right there, in your family box. And, god forgive me, she has the same stupid look in her eye as you do."
James shrugged, looking back to the match.
"Alright," Sirius shouted loudly, getting everyone's attention, "Prongs and I are going to get some refreshments, Marlene, Evans, why don't you join us?"
Remus shook his head, smiling lightly at Sirius' antics while Peter was still engrossed in the game, cracking his knuckles nervously.
"I think I'd rather just stay here Pads."
"Come on, trust me, I'm doing you a favor." Sirius said to James' disgruntlement.
He dragged James' eyes away for the game for the first time since it started. Marlene, consequently, grabbed Lily's arm as well to great protest.
"Lily, I am not going off alone with Sirius Black and James Potter. You have to come with me, keep me sensible." Marlene said, absolutely melting as Sirius Black flipped his long hair once more. "Please." She batted her brown eyes at Lily who rolled her own emerald ones replying with:
"Fine, but you're buying me a chocolate frog."
Marlene glanced at Sirius again. "Deal."
"Oh Pads! Grab me a chocolate frog will you?" Peter asked handing him a couple of sickles from his money pouch.
"Yeah sure thing Wormy." Sirius said, taking the money with his eyes laser focused on Marlene's wavy blonde hair.
The group made their way to the refreshment stand, which catered pumpkin juice, chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's every flavored beans, along with butterbeer and meat pies.
"Four butterbeers please and I guess two meat pies to share? You ladies want anything else?" Sirius glanced at Lily who looked surprise before answering: "A chocolate frog please."
"And four chocolate frogs." Sirius finished.
The vendor nodded, gathering the food, while Sirius nudged James. "Prongs you got this one?"
James nodded, listening to the announcer who had shared that the score had already gone up to 100-50 in favor of Puddlemere United. He handed over the galleons without blinking an eye, ears still focused purely on the match. Sirius shrugged, giving up on him for now, making his way towards Marlene.
"So, Marlene, get a lot of OWLs?" Sirius asked, swaggering confidently beside Marlene who was smiling cooly back at him.
"Why do you ask Black you got a few I suppose?" Marlene asked.
"Oh, you know me. I got a handful here or there." Sirius replied casually.
In fact, he didn't want to say anything, his troublemaking reputation more important than bragging about good marks, but Sirius and James had both done exceedingly well on their OWL exams. Their results had arrived about a week after Peter's father's funeral, and their exceptional marks had been rewarded by a large cake which James' mother had prepared. They had both received outstandings in everything except for divination and history of magic, divination being impossible for even the brightest of wizards if you didn't have the innate ability. Further, Professor Binns unfortunately was no more interesting as a ghost professor than he had been when he was alive.
Remus, who had studied until his fingers practically fell off, had managed to snag an outstanding in nearly all of his examinations, scoring exceeds expectations in transfiguration (having felt rather sickly with the upcoming full moon during the practical portion which caused him to leave behind the beak of the parrot he was trying to make vanish) and an acceptable in, ironically, care of magical creatures. Animals seemed to be able to pick up on Remus' nature which made it very difficult for him to get them to trust in him, particularly through his nerves at exam time. Peter did the worst of the four, as was to be expected, but he wasn't bad. He managed an outstanding in care of magical creatures, which he found to be his best subject, while managing to score exceeds expectations in most of his remaining subjects save charms and history of magic in which he scored acceptables.
"Yeah, Padfoot's a regular academic." James spoke up, breaking out of his laser focus on the game for just a moment in order to tease Sirius.
"Yeah right. What about you Marlene? You and Evans have always been brilliant with charms work right?"
"Yeah, I guess, but I only managed an Acceptable on potions, Slughorn will never let me in now. There goes auror training." She said it with a great amount of sadness before trying to perk up again. Sirius noticed this and tried to lighten the mood with his response.
"Who wants to be a glorified police officer anyway?" He said, scoffing.
"Oh yeah and what's your plan Black? Be a professional prank artist?" Marlene teased.
"I don't see why not." He said with a smirk.
"You'll have to make money somehow." Marlene said.
"Maybe not, I've never seen much use for traditional work expectations." Sirius quipped back.
"Oh yeah?" Marlene flirted a little more, leaning into Sirius' gentle touch, as their fingers continually brushed against each other.
"And Atkinson scores again for the Cannons!" The announcer shouted at that moment.
"Damn it!" Lily and James shouted almost in unison.
Marlene and Sirius glanced back at the two of them who were blushing furiously before giggling and making their way back towards the box. As they arrived James, who had been largely ignoring Lily during their walk, turned to her for the first time.
"I didn't think you liked quidditch." He said, obviously referring to their shared distress at Atkinson's recent score.
"Just because I don't know every statistic like you doesn't mean I'm not a fan." Lily replied.
"Puddlemere United then?" He asked a glimmer of hope in his voice.
"Better them than the Cannons. I've always been partial to the Harpies myself." Lily said casually.
"You would be." James scoffed.
"What, because they're a team of all witches?" Lily said.
"Precisely. Nothing wrong with witches playing quidditch but whoever heard of a witch who could be as a good beater as a wizard?" James said, jumping onto a low railing which was meant to protect passersby from falling off the edge of the pathway on which James and Lily were walking. This pathway led from the stadium seats to the refreshment stands. He walked with one foot in front of the other balancing, as Lily rolled her eyes, continuing the argument.
"If you must know, Gwendolyn Morgan happens to be England's best beater of the 20th century."
"Completely preposterous, Zeller takes that spot in a heartbeat." He said, focusing on his feet and making a show of "nearly falling" about one too many times for Lily's taste.
"Oh, come on Potter, you don't really think that toad has the innate skill that Morgan had?" Lily asked.
"What do you mean toad?" James replied, genuinely distracted now.
"Just look at the way he flies, all awkward and gangly with both feet sticking out. He's like a human frog if I ever saw one." Lily laughed, which caused James to chuckle a bit too before he responded.
"Yeah I guess I can see that-"
It was at that moment that James, having lost his concentration, and thus his footing, nearly fell off of the railing for real. Lily didn't hesitate, reaching out and grabbing him by his left arm just in time to pull him back over the edge where he landed on the hard wood floor on his butt. Lily helped him back to a standing position while James took deep, heaving breaths, looking over the side of the railing from which he had nearly plummeted 200 feet.
"Close one," He said.
"Yeah, I'll say, what the hell were you thinking? You could have died just now all for a stupid joke." Lily said, her face turning nearly the color of her hair in exasperation.
"Yeah, I guess you could look at it that way." He said finally getting his rapid breathing under control. "But what's life without a little risk? That's not a world I want to live in." James smirked at Lily before making his way towards the box, leaving her baffled in his wake before she shook her head and followed him.
She was certain in that moment that she would never understand James Potter, and his need to show off at every opportunity even through the simple act of walking around a quidditch stadium. When the two finally arrived back at the top box James noticed Marlene and Sirius sitting nearly in the same seat, giggling, lost in their own little world. He sighed, realizing that his solitary viewing of the match was bound to be interrupted if he stayed down here. He glanced at Lily who didn't seem too thrilled at the idea of joining the others either.
"I was going to go off from the crowd for a little bit so I can focus on the match without Padfoot constantly jabbering in my ear. Would you like to come?" James asked, the first genuine statement he'd made towards her all day.
Lily glanced nervously back at Marlene before turning to the match with that look of wonder in her eyes.
"Alright fine, but only so I can watch in peace without Remus trying to bother me about our holiday assignments."
"Fair enough." James replied, offering his hand which Lily declined.
He shrugged as if to say, "Your loss", climbing up a ladder attached to the side of his family's box which placed them on top of it, high enough now that they were more often than not looking down on the players flashing across the stadium on their broomsticks. Lily paused for a moment as James sat down on the edge, dangling his feet over the side of the platform.
"What? You're not scared are you?" James teased Lily who rolled her eyes making her own way forward where she dangled her own feet over the side of the drop. And so, the two of them sat sipping on their butterbear and sharing a meat pie, watching the match. It was after about five minutes of this activity that Taylor and Wilson nearly knocked them off the edge of the platform in their pursuit of the snitch flying so close that they could feel the wind whip through their hair. They shared a laugh at that holding onto the edge just a little tighter than before, but neither of them moved from their precarious position. In fact, they both cheered on Taylor from their perch booing along with the rest of the Puddlemere supporters when he was nearly knocked off his broom by a bludger and the snitch was lost again.
They continued to watch the match in silence for a while when Lily felt the urge to ask a question, the last remnants of the pie and butter beers having long been finished off.
"How many matches have you been to?"
"I've lost count. Dad tries to take me to at least five every year, but we normally go to more. He taught me everything I know about quidditch and magic. What about you Evans? You and your father ever go and see that muggle game Wormtail likes to go on about?" He asked in a teasing tone of voice.
"Football? No, I never took much of a shine to it. Petunia, my sister," she clarified, "used to watch with him. He would take her to matches sometimes while I was at school." Lily said, eyes looking far away.
"He doesn't anymore?" James asked, confused.
"She's busy. Doesn't seem to have much time for any of us these days." Lily replied, looking even further into the distance.
James wasn't sure what to say to that, but he was saved the awkwardness of having to find a response when the two of them were interrupted by loud giggles from the ladder below.
"It's right up here, just a few more rungs. Careful." Marlene laughed as Sirius made every excuse to "help her" up the ladder as he followed from behind.
"You really are trouble Black."
"Only as much trouble as you ask for McKinnon." He replied with a grin.
James and Lily stood up quickly, separating practically to opposite sides of the box's roof as the giggling Marlene and Sirius arrived, noticing them for the first time.
"Oh, sorry you two. Didn't mean to intrude." Sirius said, winking at James as he said that.
"No, you didn't. We were actually going to head back down." James replied quickly, moving away from Lily as if she were a particularly large flobberworm.
"Right." Sirius replied, glancing at his friend, but then back to Marlene and clearly choosing his priority.
Their giggles could be heard all the way down the ladder no matter how hard Lily and James tried to ignore them. The awkwardness of the situation led them both to part ways without a word once they had walked back into the box, sitting on opposite sides of Remus and Peter and watching the rest of the match unfold. It was nearing midnight and the snitch had yet to have been caught, being seen a total of four times. The score was still fairly even at 300-350 with the Cannons having pulled ahead within the last couple of hours. Lily and the rest were checking their watches wondering just how long this match would go on when James approached her from behind, leaning his elbow on her seat and getting so close he could smell the lavender shampoo in her dark red hair.
"Hey, Evans." He whispered, an edge of tiredness lacing his normally upbeat voice.
"Yeah, what is it Potter?" She asked, stifling a yawn as she tried to keep her eyes on the match.
"Look up." He said.
She glanced at him before doing as he said, eyes peeled on the stars above the quidditch pitch which had seemingly rearranged to show a series of letters across the night sky. The letters read: Lily Evans, will you go out with me? Along with a large arrow pointing directly at the Potters' large family box in the upper reaches of the stadium.
James smirked at her with an expectant gaze and all eyes turned to them as a whisper of excitement began to fill the crowd. Those who couldn't see from nearby stared at the two of them through their binoculars and a chant began rippling through the stadium:
"Say yes, say yes, say yes, say yes," but this crowd of nearly 80,000 was about to be disappointed.
Rather than saying yes and bringing James in for a tearful kiss like on so many muggle screens at football stadiums Lily Evans slapped James Potter across the face taking her leave from his top box, ignoring the outcome of the game which she had spent nearly 13 hours watching.
"So, I'll take that as a yes?" James called after her, his signature smirk plastered across his face.
He didn't notice his father shake his head in disapproval before turning his eyes back to the match. Sirius, meanwhile, having seen the message between kisses with Marlene, came down the ladder and back into the top box looking particularly ruffled. Marlene, having seen Lily flee from the box, made to run after her not sparing Sirius a second glance.
"Good job there ,Prongs. You've got her right where you want her," Sirius teased his best friend who didn't look the least bit defeated.
"She'll come around." James said, turning his focus back to the match, as a large number of the crowd had started screaming once again.
As he realized what was happening James quickly joined them screaming Taylor's name as he dove after the snitch, dodging two bludgers sent his way and going faster and faster until…the eruption of cheers shook the stadium once again.
Peter swore loudly as Taylor held the snitch proudly in his fist, having secured the victory for Puddlemere United. James and his father hugged one another tight, screaming as a unit at the victory of their team, while Sirius couldn't help but cheer alongside his best friend, although not all that into quidditch himself. The whole group was caught up in the excitement of the night so much so that despite making it home from the match around 1:30 the boys didn't manage to fall asleep until dawn had risen. They were far too busy celebrating with James' father who insisted on giving each boy just a little too much firewhiskey for Mrs. Potter's liking, Mr. Potter having had the most out of all of them. By 3:30 Mrs. Potter had whisked him off to bed, his cheeks as rosy as a sailor, with his son and friends deciding they needed to celebrate on in his honor. They danced and sang like drunken fools laughing and wrestling until they finally tired themselves out collapsing as a group on James' living room floor.
"Too bad about the Cannons though isn't it?" Peter said, his cheery tone laced with a quiet disappointment.
"Pfft, the Cannons are the bloody worst team in the league. You watch they're going to fall off." James replied.
"Will you two please stop arguing and go to bed?" Remus asked from the corner rubbing his tired eyes.
James shrugged, rolling over and pretending to sleep for Remus' benefit, mind too full with the adventures of the day. Besides Puddlemere United scoring another victory, a given in James' eyes, he had actually made it through quite a good bit of conversation with the infamous Lily Evans. A girl who normally wouldn't have given him the time of day actually spoke to him and seemed to be concerned for his well-being. If only he could figure out what exactly made her tick then he might be able to figure out why, even though she'd seemed to like him, she'd rejected him again anyway, rather forcefully he might add. He lay among his three best friends, listening to their heavy breathing and wishing that he could capture their love for him and show it to Lily in some way. If he could just prove to her that he was someone worth having then maybe she wouldn't always be so quick to tell him no. These thoughts kept him up for the rest of that night, so much so that he was woken from a half-sleep by his mother cooking in the kitchen, and decided he might as well go give her a hand. After all his brain was full to the brim with thoughts of Lily Evans, and as he whisked five eggs into a scramble in the pan, he couldn't help but wonder what karmic reason there could possibly be for him to deserve such torture.