Author's Note: Just a quickie. Enjoy (I hope!)
Disclaimer: Innocent until proven guilty? * Hides behind computer * Don't sue me!
Ch. 2
Lily, it turned out, fit right in with the team. The other men and women were nice to her, and particularly grateful to her, as it was, as James said, her fault, that he was playing.
James worked them hard and only when Lily began to feel a little dizzy did he let them go.
"Are all practices this long?" she asked a pretty girl with long blond hair who had smiled at her and introduced herself as Darcy Morris.
"No, he was just testing you. You were really good out there, not to mention you lasted longer than any of us have at the beginning."
Lily nodded and tried to smile instead sat down unsteadily on one of the bench's in the locker room, clutching her head.
Lily soon brought her stuff and had moved into the same set of villas as the rest of the team. She shared a villa with Darcy, who soon became a good friend. Darcy, in addition to being extremely friendly also gave her the general gossip about the team.
Lily soon found out from her that their team was the best in the region and always came out first in the district levels competitions, that the Flying Fireballs (their team) was notorious for training in the middle of the mountains and using bits of ice for their snitches, (Lily could've believed that, it was cold enough) and also learned the personal history of each player, as much as he or she had told, and the rest what Darcy knew and what they themselves had no idea Darcy knew.
For instance, she learned that James, who had attended Hogwarts four years before Lily, had been signed on to Flying Fireballs and played with them for a season before he had injured his knee so bad he couldn't play anymore.
Then he had taken over the role of coaching, something he had done for three years. It was only when Lily came on that he had reluctantly, so he told the team, though they constantly teased him that he had secretly been longing for an excuse, taken over the position of head Chaser. "And only so we can win the damn thing this year!"
* * *
Lily was stretching on the floor of the living room, in front of a blazing fire. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt that said Oxford University on it, listening as Darcy read aloud a hilarious article from their favorite magazine.
It was snowing outside, as usual, as Lily would say. Both of them were laughing after each sentence, Lily still trying to do her stretches to keep her stiff ankles flexible.
The door suddenly banged open bringing in a gust of cold wind, and a whirlwind covered in snow. Lily jumped up and ran to shut the door behind the person, who was so completely covered in snow that she had no idea who it was.
Darcy was helping the person dust off the snow, revealing a wet and smiling James Potter.
"I came to find out what you two found so funny; we could hear you next door, through the storm."
Lily glanced out the window unhappily; she hated the awful weather they had up here, but turned back to James, smiling.
"Read this," Darcy commanded, thrusting the magazine into his hands. James raised his eyebrows.
"What's this? Reading a 'Banned' book?" he teased. It was a standing joke that James didn't let the team read anything other than Quidditch magazines and books, a rule that they all broke every day, James included, for lack of anything else better to do during the long storms.
But he read it, and couldn't help laughing as well.
"Isn't it hilarious? I'm going to get Amy and Kurt too," Darcy announced, running outside and over next door in nothing but her slippers. Lily ran to close the door behind her.
"She's crazy," she said with a smile. James nodded.
"Oxford University? What's that?" James asked curiously.
"It's a Muggle school. My brother goes there."
"That would explain why it looks about ten times too big for you," James said with a grin. "Got any more oversized clothes you'd mind lending me? This is completely soaked," pointing to his shirt.
Lily laughed but went into the bedroom to root through her closet. She came back with another similar t-shirt and a pair of what were obviously boys' shorts. James raised his eyebrows at Lily, who blushed.
"My brother's."
"Ah, and does 'your brother' have a name?"
"Chase." James went into the bathroom to change and Lily made hot chocolate in the kitchen.
"Where is Darcy?" she wondered aloud a couple of minutes later, as James wandered back into the main room. He grinned.
"Don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"You mean Darcy's been giving you all the gossip on everybody but her? She's going out with Carter, if you didn't know. That would be why she doesn't come back so quick."
Lily sat back near the fire, and resumed her stretching. "She never told me," Lily said with a shrug.
"What're you doing?" James asked, after watching her for a few minutes.
"Stretching."
"Yeah, I can see that. Why? Do I not keep you fit enough?" with a grin. Lily shuddered.
"Your training's just fine, Coach."
"Then, why?"
"My ankles get stiff. Too cold."
James frowned. "Cold?"
Lily gestured outside, where the snow was still flurrying.
"Why'd you come here then? Didn't you know it's in the mountains?"
"I was desperate," Lily said frankly, with a little smile. "No team that had openings was willing to take me for an indefinite amount of time."
"What?" he asked startled. She looked up at him a little confused.
"Yeah, I can't play Quidditch forever. My parents won't let me."
"To hell with your parents, you've got to stay!"
"James!" she cried angrily.
"I'm serious. I can't let you go, we're a great team with you." She scowled and he crossed his arms, smirking a little.
"You'd better get used to the cold; you're staying with us, kid."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Not much, yet. Getting there.
~ Leslie