To Lily's great delight, the most noticeable piece of aftermath to come out of Devon and his yew wand saving Hugo (apart from Devon's fears about having a yew wand being alleviated) was that Hugo and Devon became much closer with each other.
James, Hugo, and Lily had all always been close and James and Lily had developed strong bonds with Devon since they met him.
But Hugo and Devon had been more distant. They got along fine but didn't feel very close to each other.
But Devon and his yew wand saving Hugo had naturally bonded them far more tightly.
James, Devon, Hugo, and Lily had all become closer to each other since Hugo's recovery but the bond between Hugo and Devon was the bond that that had strengthened the most.
James, Devon, Hugo, and Lily all valued their friendships with Ainsley, Samantha, and Stephanie, but they were indisputably much closer knit with each other.
Samantha was highly critical of this.
"James, Hugo, Devon, and Lily, you four are way too attached to each other," Samantha told them on more than one occasion, "Being emotionally attached to other people is the greatest weakness a person can have. What if one of you dies? Or even has to move away at some point? People who become emotionally attached to other people are setting themselves up for grief and sadness."
James, on the other hand, strongly took the opposite view.
"Close knit relationships with family and friends, love, and affection are the most meaningful and valuable things in life." said James fiercely.
"Absolutely, James," agreed Devon, "Those are the very things that make life worth living."
"And," said Lily meaningfully, "The bond between me and Hugo played a role in saving Hugo."
"A big role," added Hugo, "I had more strength to push through because I was fighting for you and not just myself."
Next nanosecond, James, Devon, Hugo, and Lily exchanged hugs that seemed to go on for hours.
During Quidditch practices. James, Hugo, and Devon would all sit in the stands together supporting their family and friends on the team, cheering on Lily particularly hard.
James, a self-proclaimed Quidditch expert, was impressed watching the Gryffindor team play and loved their chances against Slytherin.
On the morning of the Gryffindor-Slytherin match, Saturday, November 9th, 2019, it was bitterly cold.
In fact, the air temperature was 26 below 0, more than 10 degrees colder than the infamous "Ice Bowl" between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers in Green Bay on New Year's Eve 1967 had been. To make matters worse, the wind chill was 58 below 0, almost as bad as the infamous "Freezer Bowl," between the San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals in the 1981 AFC Championship Game.
Fred, Samantha, Ainsley, Stephanie, Roxanne, Rachel, and Lily had all come to down to breakfast with their Quidditch robes already on so they wouldn't have to change before the match.
Joining them at breakfast were Hugo, Devon, and James.
"Good luck today, Lily, "said James, smiling at Lily, "I know you're going to make our family proud."
'Thanks, James," said Lily warmly, "I'm excited to have you calling my first match. Not many players get to have their brother calling their matches. I'm also glad that a true Quidditch lover is our commentator."
Rachel, Meanwhile, was looking down at Lily's feet and she had to ask, "Lily, why are you still wearing flip flops when it's this bitterly cold outside, knowing you will be playing a Quidditch match outside today?"
"I never wear any footwear other than flip flops or slippers because I just don't like to wear socks or shoes, "answered Lily simply.
No one actually on the team ate much breakfast. Pretty much a piece of toast and a glass of orange juice each. All of them were too nervous to eat very much.
About ten minutes till match time, the team met Wesley in the locker room and Hugo and Devon found seats in the stands.
"Now, I shouldn't have to say much," said Wesley to his team, "Just do what you've been doing in practice and we'll win."
The circumstance of Wesley being a nonplaying captain had become a big plus for the team as he had been free to focus on game planning and observing his team. Having mostly liked what he saw during practice, he had mostly just encouraged them to keep doing what they had been doing.
When Fred, Samantha, Ainsley, Stephanie, Roxanne, Rachel, and Lily emerged from the locker room, the cold and wind were so piercing that they all felt as though they had been stabbed with a hundred knives at once.
But no one complained. They knew they had a game to win and that their minds needed to be focused on winning and not weather.
Madam Macavoy was refereeing the match. Megan Nash, a short dark haired Slytherin fourth year, would face off with Ainsley Cochlain to start the match. Madam Macavoy tossed the quaffle into the air to start the match.
Ainsley controlled the quaffle first. Deciding she wanted to open the match with a bang, Ainsley shot the quaffle from mid pitch towards the right Slytherin hoop. It went in cleanly, as the Slytherin Keeper had drifted too far left.
"Ainsley Cochlain scores! 10 points to Gryffindor!" announced James happily as cheers erupted from the Gryffindors.
At Ainsley's score, Lily did a few loops the loops before returning to searching for the snitch.
As Slytherin took possession of the quaffle, it was clear their Chasers had some talent. Megan Nash, Natalie Bortles, and Nicole Hafner worked together as a seamless team. Their passing and hand eye coordination was superb.
But unfortunately for them-
"Bortles with the Quaffle, looking for Hafner ahead of her, oh a perfect pass to Hafner who shoots. SAVED BY SAVER! That was bloody brilliant! Saver knocked the quaffle away at the last nanosecond with only her fingernail!"
"I'm the best damn Keeper in the world!" boasted Samantha after the fingertip save. "Gryffindor is so lucky to have me as Keeper!"
"Gryffindor takes possession of the quaffle, Weasley with it. Little toss ahead to Cochlain. The Slytherins all converge on Cochlain. She spots Robins wide open down field. Cochlain throws it downpitch to Robins. Robins with a close shot. YES! Rachel Robins scores! Gryffindor leads 20-0."
More cheers came from the Gryffindors.
"Bortles in possession, throws it to Hafner, and Weasley of Gryffindor belts a bludger at Hafner, Hafner drops the quaffle and it's picked up by Cochlain. They all surround Cochlain again. Cochlain with a close grip tosses it to Robins. Robins with a quick second pass to Weasley. Weasley from nine feet. GOOD! Roxanne Weasley scores! Gryffindor leads 30-0."
Hugo led the Gryffindor cheers after cousin Roxanne's goal.
"Slytherin in possession. Bortles hands it off to Nash. Nice swerve moves by Nash. Nash shoots. SAVER HAS SAVED ANOTHER ONE!"
"I'll always save them all!" said Samantha cockily.
This pattern pretty much kept up for another eight minutes until Gryffindor was leading 160-0. Ainsley had managed only one more goal after her initial score. But, showing she was a team player, she took advantage of the Slytherins double and triple teaming her to create scoring opportunities for Rachel and Roxanne. And though Nicole, Natalie, and Megan proved adept at passing and handling the quaffle, they were unable to get a single shot past the focused, determined, and skilled Keeper that was Samantha Saver.
About ten minutes into the match, Lily spotted the snitch in descent. She leaned forward to prepare her broom towards the ground.
But as she slowed down, the Slytherin Seeker, Phillip Edgecombe, attempted to knock Lily off her broom by intentionally slamming into her as hard as he could with both his body and his broom.
"I hope you break your neck, girl," said Phillip nastily as he saw Lily start to slip.
But luckily, Lily had every skill in the world when it came to both brooms and balance. She managed to maintain her grip and remain on her broom.
However, a bludger had come pelting towards her as she had stopped to gather herself. Fortunately, Stephanie was on the scene and she hit the bludger as hard as she could with her bat away from Lily.
As Lily neared the ground, she had somehow gotten the snitch in her mouth.
Landing as gracefully as one can land while wearing flip flops, Lily then spit the snitch into her hand.
"LILY POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNICTH!" exclaimed James with a mixture of exhilaration that Gryffindor had won and pride that his sister had performed so well in her first match, "GRYFFINDOR WINS! Lily Potter caught the snitch in her mouth and spit it into her hand, just as Harry Potter did in his first match! Like father like daughter eh!"
Lily felt shaken after Phillip had tried to whack her off her broom, but she was grinning ear to ear about how she had won her first match.
"This is surreal," said Lily emotionally, "I can't believe that I won my first match in the exact same way dad won his first match! Like father like daughter indeed."
"Hey, Lily!' said Devon as he came over to her and high fived her, "I'm really impressed. Not many people could have stayed on that broom!"
"So true!" agreed Hugo as he also high fived Lily, "And hopefully this will open Lily's eyes to the horrible nature of Slytherin house. They deliberately tried to hurt her!"
"Phillip Edgecombe deliberately tried to hurt me," said Lily calmly, "He is not all Slytherins."
James came over from the commentator's area.
"Lily, I couldn't be prouder of you," said James as he gave his sister a hug, "You were amazing out there. It was the best performance I've seen from any Seeker in a Hogwarts match since I've been here and to do it under such adverse conditions. The cold. That asshole wanting to injure you. You kept your cool and you followed in dad's footsteps. And please don't judge all Slytherins by the actions of one. I have some decent friends in Slytherin house, Megan among them."
"You were wonderful behind the mic," Lily told James, "Your excitement was contagious. And I'll never forget your call of how I got the snitch in this game. And thank you for having a fair-minded view of Slytherin house."
Samantha, Ainsley, and Stephanie came over smiling at Lily with their faces glowing.
"Wow, Lily," said Stephanie in awe. "To stay on that broom-
At that nanosecond, two players from the Slytherin team came over in Megan Nash and Beater and captain Ernie MacMillan Jr., a sixth year who was the spitting image of his father.
"Lily, are you okay? "asked Megan kindly.
"I'm a bit shaken but I'm not hurt," said Lily softly.
"Lily, here, "said Megan, taking a slab of Honeydukes chocolate out of her pocket, "Eat this, you'll calm down and feel better."
"Thanks, Megan," said Lily gratefully as she took her first bite of the chocolate, which did calm her down.
"Lily," said Ernie formally, "Look, I'm really sorry about what my Seeker tried to do to you. There's NO place for that in Quidditch or any sport. We don't need a Quidditch version of Bountygate. Know that I will be removing Phillip Edgecombe from this team. "
"Thanks for reaching out to me, Megan, Ernie, "said Lily softly. "And good luck the rest of the year."
"Lily," said Ernie firmly, "No one should have to worry about another player trying to injure him or her while playing Quidditch. Phillip Edgecombe won the Slytherin Seeker tryout fair and square but if I had known he would do this-"
"Ernie, it wasn't your fault," said Lily firmly,
"As team captain of Slytherin, my players are my responsibility," said Ernie formally, "And removing the sleezeball Phillip Edgecombe from my team is the only appropriate course of action."
When Megan and Ernie had left, Lily turned to Hugo.
"See how Ernie and Megan were decent people," Lily pointed out to Hugo.
"I wouldn't have expected that out of Slytherins. Maybe I have been too closed minded," said Hugo uncertainly. "But Edgecombe was horrible. Yet Ernie and Megan were classy. I don't know what to think. But maybe I need to rethink this."
Lily was glad to hear this. Hugo's mind didn't seem totally changed but Lily saw there was a start to getting Hugo to change his attitude towards Slytherins.
"Hey, Lily," suggested James, "Dad will be delighted when he learns how you won your first Hogwarts Quidditch match. I suggest you keep the snitch. We can hang it up in the trophy room at Potter Manor."
"I will." said Lily radiantly. "To have won my very first match in the same way dad won his first match is a beautiful and special thing. This is a moment to savored and saved. "
And suddenly, every Gryffindor burst out chanting, "Lily, Lily, Lily"
Lily smiled and took it all in. Everyone on the team had done great but today was clearly hers and everyone was happy for her for it to be.
That night, as Lily lay in her bed, a feeling of pure satisfaction and contentment filled her heart.
With her brother calling the match, Lily had won her first Quidditch match exactly as her dad had won his first match. To Lily, this was a joy to behold.
Like father, like daughter.
