I own nothing.
**
Chapter 6: Seamless Team
The important thing to recognize is that it takes a team, and the team ought to get credit for the wins and the losses. Successes have many fathers, failures have none.
--Philip Caldwell
October 14, 1977
Gryffindor Tower was in chaos.
"JAMES POTTER!" a feminine voice shrieked from the girls' dormitories.
Grinning, James Potter leaned against the doorframe of the seventh year girls' room. Lily Evan was covered in water, sending him a death glare that would cow wolves into submission. He just smiled cheekily at her.
"I'm going to kill you, you bloody bastard!" She pointed a shaking finger at him and began to shiver, her teeth clacking. There had been a freezing charm on the water in the water balloons, James was happy to admit.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she asked him, her voice steadily rising. James saw Anabella, Sunny, and Clara poking their heads sleepily out of their curtains and looking at Lily, before darting back behind the curtains and sniggering. "That water was cold."
"Are you going to cry?" James asked.
"No," Lily retorted, and walked towards him steadily. He held his ground and didn't back away. She was suddenly right in front of him, and James saw that she was wearing a white nightgown. He gaped and clapped a hand over his eyes so she wouldn't slap him when she realized.
"What is wrong with you?" she repeated.
"You're wet in white," he replied, his voice muffled. There was a gasp and a few drops of water flicked onto James. He wiped them away and slowly opened his eyes. Lily was clutching a dressing gown around her body, glaring at him, teeth bared.
"Oh, yay. Now I need a cold shower," he said, more to himself than to her.
"Get out of my sight, James," she bit out, and he smiled again, sauntering away. There was a resounding crash as she slammed the door behind him, and he laughed as he entered the common room.
"Did you set up the old water balloon prank again?" Peter asked as James came down the stairs. James grinned at him.
"You bet I did. Don't tell Sirius." James chuckled. "He'll expel me from the Marauders for lack of creativity."
"Okay," Peter shrugged, as if it didn't matter much to him. And, James though, it probably doesn't mean much to him.
"Are we going to breakfast, James?" asked Remus as he came down the dormitory stairs, with a bleary-eyed Sirius in tow.
"Yea," said James, and Peter stood up from the couch. The four of them made their way down to the Great Hall and sat down at their usual place, right near the doors and farthest away from the staff table.
"The Quidditch try-outs are today after classes," said Remus while he was passing James the bacon.
James shrugged. "So, all we need are reserves, and we don't even need those badly. Every other spot was filled."
Remus gave him a strange look. "But Sunny said that she wasn't going to be able to play this year."
"WHAT?" yelled James, spitting out a mouthful of orange juice.
"When we were in Hosmeade together-" Remus cut himself off and a blush stained his cheeks.
Sirius gave a gleeful cackle. "Oh, this is just too good! How long have you two been together?"
"Fifth year," muttered Remus.
Sirius immediately stopped smiling. "But-but that's a long time. A serious relationship. Why didn't you tell us? Does-does she know about…you know…Moony?"
Remus sighed. "No, she doesn't know I'm a…you know."
Peter dropped his fork. "But you've been going out for over two years then! And you haven't told her? Won't she be angry?"
Remus sighed again. "Her little sister was killed by a werewolf," he said softly.
"So if she finds out you're a werewolf she's not going to be very happy," Peter said needlessly.
"Keep your voice down!" James said, as Remus and Sirius, sitting across from them, paled.
It was too late.
"What?" There was the sound of a book hitting the floor and James and Peter turned to see Lily standing behind them, a look of shock on her face. She had dried off, though her hair was still slightly damp from the water balloons.
"You're a-a-"
"Shh!" James said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the bench. She sat down between James and Peter, her face still a mask of shock.
"How much did you hear?" asked Remus nervously.
"That you're a-a-"
"Monster?" supplied Remus matter-of-factly.
"Oh, Remus, no! You aren't a monster! You're one of the nicest people I know!" cried Lily.
"Shh!" James said again.
"Sorry!" replied Lily.
"Does everything make sense now?" Remus said, his voice resigned.
"Yes," said Lily quietly. "Even what Sunny showed-I mean, even about your visits to sick grandmothers every month. I was beginning to wonder why your grandmother was living so long if she got sick so often. It's been seven years."
"Don't tell anyone," said James quickly.
Lily shot him an annoyed look. "Of course I won't! I'm not stupid."
"You could've fooled me," James snorted.
Lily made a face at him before standing up and sweeping her books into her arms. "I'll see you later," she said, whirling away and stalking down the table. Moments later she was joined by Sunny and Anabella Figg.
"Well, then," said Sirius. "I guess there goes my suggestion."
"What suggestion?" James asked irritably. Lily had put him in a foul mood.
"Lily could fill Sunny's position; she's a damn good flier."
James paused in the middle of saying no and thought for a moment. He had seen Lily fly, and she really was good. Maybe…
"She'd never go for it," he said doubtfully to Sirius.
"Yes she would," said Sirius, "She loves Quidditch."
"She does," added Remus. "She talks about it with Sunny all the time."
"Well then, can you ask her Sirius? She'll probably throw her Charms text at me again."
Sirius winced. "Ouch. And she's in the advanced class, that thing weighs almost six pounds!"
"Will you ask her?" James said impatiently.
"Yea," Sirius sighed. "I'll ask her to try out."
"Good," said James.
"The things I do for you," muttered Sirius darkly.
James only laughed.
**
Damn, I have to tell half these people they can't be on the team, thought James, after he had made his decisions based on their performance at the try-outs. A group of hopeful faces stared at him, except for Lily. She looked as if she couldn't care less if she got on the team or not. She was lounging on a couch with her eyes closed
James took a deep breath. "Alright! I have the Quidditch team positions!"
Was it his imagination, or did Lily stiffen and scoot a little close to the edge of the couch? The common room was quiet, and James began his list.
"Reserve beaters are Johnny Macityre and Eric Mothson, reserve chasers are Ally Bedrock, Jenny Hart, and Mark Sheavers, reserve Keeper is Joseph Lorden, and reserve seeker is Danny Lorden. The last chaser is Lily Evans. Practice is at seven tomorrow. Be late and you'll get a lecture from my friend Sirius over there."
Sirius stood up as the crowd around James dispersed. They were rather late in choosing their team, but then again, Sunny had been practicing with them until now. She had confirmed what Remus had told him at lunch, she wasn't going to be playing. She had apologized for saying she was, but her parents had only recently forbade her. James was thankful they didn't have a match until the third week of October and had time to prepare.
"We have class now," said Peter, coming up behind him.
"Huh?" asked James.
"Patel's class," said Peter. "Remember?"
"Oh, yea," said James, joining Remus, Sirius, Lily, Sunny, and Ana by the portrait hole. The seven of them left and made their way to third floor.
The layout of the auditorium was quite different. On the stage were a number of tables, and surrounding the platform were another set of tables. James's group chose a table, and it soon filled up, as there seemed to be shortage of space. Pretty soon, a group of six, including Maria Danes, had gathered at their table. Sirius rolled his eyes and Lily suppressed a smile as Ana said that the first to get up would be the first to die, as there were thirteen people.
"If I don't call your name, get down from the platform and take a seat on the floor," said Madhura Patel's voice, and James jumped as she walked on to the platform, dressed entirely in black. "Alphabetical order. Maria Danes-" Sunny got up and walked to the floor as she had already passed the C's. Patel named a list with about ten or so people on it, James and Lily included. James shoved Sirius off the bench, as he had loudly protested, saying, "You must have missed me!" with a large grin.
"Fine," he finally pouted. "I know when I'm not wanted!"
"You always did have good perception," Lily quipped with a grin. She looked at James across the table and smiled, inviting him to share the joke with her. James forced himself to remain stoic and Lily stopped smiling.
"Now," said Patel. "If all of the students on the platform could move to the center table?" It was said as a suggestion, but the students knew it was an order. Lily, James, and Maria, the only people left at their table, got up quickly and sat down at the table in the center of the stage. James had counted wrong. There were only eight people at the table, including himself. "The rest of you students can be dismissed. Your actual class will be on Wednesday nights for an hour."
There was a large swell of noise from below and James frowned. There had been no mention of different class times. The rest of the school exited the room and soon it was silent.
"Now, then," said Patel. She paced in front of them, her hands clasped behind her back. It reminded James of someone, but he couldn't remember whom. "I had originally thought that the evaluation process would take three nights, but I was very wrong, so there will be a little adjustment in the class schedule." She sighed. "Instead of meeting two nights a week, we will only be meeting on Mondays." She called on a student who had raised their hand. "Yes, Ms…?"
"Jennin, Elizabeth Jennin," the girl said loudly. James turned and took a good look at her because she was sitting behind him. Her voice had a slight whine to it that sounded permanent. "Why are we up here? And why can't we sit with our friends?"
"Jennin?" Patel asked, frowning. "Jennin." Suddenly her eyes widened and she turned furious eyes on the girl. James was rather annoyed when Jennin grabbed the back of his robes in fright. "You," Patel said calmly, but with a world of anger behind the word. "Your father-"
"Can get you fired," said Jennin haughtily. "Now please, why are we up here?"
If Patel hadn't been so worked up, James was sure she would have taken points for the Ravenclaw's insolence. As it was, she didn't. "Right, right," said Patel. "Forgive me, I must be thinking of…someone else. Mr…?"
"Potter, James Potter. Could you please tell her to let go of my robes?"
Something flickered in Patel's eyes, but it was gone and the professor's lips twitched upwards at the corners; otherwise her face was straight. "Of course, d-Mr. Potter, Ms. Jennin, could you please release Mr. Potter?"
"Oh, yes," said Jennin, with a disdainful sniff.
"Why are you here? Well, you are all…gifted, in a way. Does anyone want to guess how you're gifted? Ms…?"
"Lily Evans." A strange emotion, the same one James had seen when Patel looked at him, passed over the woman's face at Lily's name, but it passed in an instant. "Do we have some sort of-I don't know how to say it-ancient magic?"
"Five points to Gryffindor, Ms. Evans. Very shrewd. Yes, you are all gifted in the ways of ancient magic. There are thirteen types of ancient magic, all of which a god or goddess of the elves possessed. Strangely enough, the idols the fairies and elves worshiped were in human form." Patel smiled and James's mind reeled. He knew this woman from somewhere.
"Everyone possesses some ancient magic, although not everyone possesses enough to be able to do anything with it of their own volition. These two states of ancient magic are not…shall we say, symmetrical. This means that while a hundred people can possess Empathy, only one of those people will be able to do anything with it voluntarily. Or while more than half of a hundred people can possess stone magic, very few can't do anything with it voluntarily. Stone and Metal magic is the most common-found of the ancient magics, while Full Magic is the least commonly found."
Maria raised her hand and told Patel her name. "But-do you mean stone magic is the most commonly found overall, or that stone magic that people can do things with is the most common?"
"The latter," answered Patel. "The same goes for soul-searching and empathy, as well as the other magics. Mr…?"
"Li, Peter Li," said a Chinese boy sitting behind Jennin. James had always suspected he had a crush on Sunny. Well, too bad. My best friend is in love with her. "You said 'Full Magic.' Is there a difference between full and, well…not full?"
Patel smiled. "A point for Ravenclaw. I didn't think anyone would catch that. Yes, there is a difference. There are…different branches of magic." She turned and conjured up a blackboard, charming the chalk to write out a table on the board:
Ancient Magic
I) Nature II) Healing
A) Plant B) Empathy
B) Elemental 1. Soul-searching
1. Water 2. Linking
2. Fire 3. Inspiration
3. Air 4. Love
4. Earth
4a: Stone
4b: Metal
5. Weather
"The higher on the table you go, the rarer the magic. For instance, if you have Earth Magic, you have stone and/or metal magic, You also have control over other products that come from the earth, such as an earthen bowl or such. However, just because you have Earth magic, you don't have Air or Fire or Water magic. As there are many types of magics within each main subject, it is rare to have all of them." Patel waved her wand and the chalk, which had been hovering in midair, poised to write, dropped to the chalk tray.
"In addition to your Monday night class, you will have a night of independent study. I will begin independent study in December, and will arrange a day with you then. The bell is about to ring, so copy down these notes and then you can be on your way."
James finished with his notes relatively quickly and he surveyed the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Patel watching him with the strangest expression on her face. It was almost…hungry. Not in a desiring way, but in the way that she was a young fan, and he; her idol.
"Hello? James?"
James looked up and saw Lily, standing with her books in her arms. In the background he heard the bell that signaled the end of class periods tapering off.
"Are you alive?" she asked impatiently. James rolled his eyes and hefted his backpack onto his shoulders. Their friends hadn't waited, and they were the only ones left in the auditorium besides Patel.
"You didn't have to wait," James replied snidely. Lily didn't deign to respond to that and instead turned to Patel.
"Have a nice evening," she said politely.
Patel turned slowly and smiled at both of them. "You too, see you next class." She quickly turned around and began shuffling papers in her hands.
"Teacher's pet," muttered James as they climbed the stairs out of the auditorium.
"Oh shut up," said Lily. "She's strange."
James snorted. "She's new. Of course she's strange."
Lily frowned. "No, she really is strange. I feel…weird around her. But when I told Sirius…he didn't take me seriously." She grinned at her own pun.
"Well what makes you think I'm going to be any different?" questioned James.
Lily shrugged. "One of those things I can tell about people."
"You can tell things about people, too?" he asked curiously.
"Can you?"
"Sometimes," he said, as they passed by the library and saw Clara, Lily's roommate, leaving. She sneered at the pair of them before walking away.
"I can tell if people are lying-"
"So can I."
"-and I can tell if they have been hurt before just by looking at them, glancing at them."
"It takes me a while, but then I can tell. I can tell-every once in a while I get a flash of something, as if I can tell how someone feels…sometimes about another person."
"So-do you think it has something to do with ancient magic?"
"I want to know what type I have."
"Me too," said Lily.
"You know what, Lily, I think we just held a civil conversation," smirked James, when they stood in front of the Fat Lady. "One of our first. Squeaky toys are brilliant," said James, and with a distinctly undignified roll of her eyes, the Fat Lady swung open and they clambered through the portrait hole.
"What idiot came up with that password?" asked Lily exasperatedly.
"I did," said Sirius, tickling her sides quickly.
"Hey!" squealed Lily, laughing.
James turned away from the couple, telling himself firmly that he shouldn't be there. I don't belong. I don't belong. I don't be-
"James?"
With a slight groan, James turned to face Maria Danes.
"Yes?" he asked wearily.
"I wanted to see how you were," she said softly. She genuinely seemed concerned. Over her shoulder, James saw Sirius and Lily watching with interest, along with half the common room.
"I think I'm fine," he said with a sigh, and turned and trudged up the dormitory stairs.
Right.
**
October 22, 1977
The Gryffindor stands erupted in cheers as James and the rest of the Quidditch team walked out onto the Pitch. James could see Sirius jumping about madly in the front row, a few feet from McGonagall, who looked like she was about to die of annoyance. James pitied her.
"Shake hands, Captains," said Madame Hooch. James glared at Dean Rosier, a sixth year Ravenclaw who he hated for his snide comments and shrewd, calculating nature. James suspected he would have done well in Slytherin as well.
The fact that he had shagged Maria behind James's back had nothing to do with it.
At least that's what James liked to tell himself.
Reluctantly, James put out his hand and Rosier gripped it, squeezing hard. "Setting yourself up to lose, Potter?" he asked under his breath.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing," said Rosier, throwing a glance at Lily, who was standing behind James.
James would have questioned Rosier, but Hooch cried, "Mount your brooms!" James and the rest of the players swung their legs over their brooms, and Madame Hooch's whistle blew shrilly. Fifteen brooms rose into the crisp October air, and the quaffle was immediately grabbed by Lily, who fell into the formation they had been practicing all week with the other Gryffindor chasers, Alex Fera and Jennifer Hart.
James inhaled the scent of wood smoke and fresh air, enjoying being on a broom, where he felt most at home. His eyes darted around quickly to see if he could spot the snitch, but it hadn't shown itself yet.
"AND EVANS PASSES TO FERA WHO…OH! NICE SAVE BY RAVENCLAW KEEPER JONES! POSSESSION TO RAVENCLAW, ROSIER GRABS THE QUAFFLE AND FLIES ACROSS THE FIELD-OH, NICE INTERCEPTION BY LILY EVANS, THIS YEAR'S HEAD GIRL! LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE GOING HER WAY-SHE SHOOTS! SCORE! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"
Screams erupted from the Gryffindor stands and hisses erupted from the Slytherins, who would die before supporting Gryffindor. James couldn't help it, he grinned and high-fived Alex Fera, who was flying by.
"WONDERUFL PLAY BY DENNON, THE RAVENCLAW BEATER! HIT EVANS RIGHT IN THE ARM, CAUSING HER TO DROP THE QUAFFLE. SHE SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND HER!"
James distinctly heard Sirius shout, "That's my girlfriend you just insulted, you dirty wanker!" There was great commotion as he smacked the Hufflepuff who was commentating on the back of the head and cast the Sonorus charm on himself.
"HELLO ALL, THIS IS SIRIUS BLACK. I'LL BE YOUR COMMENTATOR FOR THE REST OF THE MATCH. AFTER THE GREAT SLANDER INFLICTED ON MY AMAZING GIRLFRIEND LILY, CHASER FOR GRYFFINDOR AND HEAD GIRL I DECIDED I WOULD BE A PERFECT CANDI-FERA SHOOTS! HE SCORES! 10 POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"
It was then that James saw the snitch, glinting right near the Ravenclaw stands. He went into a steep dive, just as Jennifer Hart put a goal past the Ravenclaw keeper.
"JAMES IS DIVING, HE SEES THE SNITCH! ROLLIN IS SPEEDING AFTER HIM, THERE'S NO WAY YOU'RE GOING TO CATCH UP TO HIM, YOU WANKER-SORRY PROFESSOR, I'LL BE GOOD! JAMES REACHES HIS HAND OUT-"
CRACK!
James felt pain explode from his right wrist as the bludger smashed into it. He cradled his hand to his chest and searched frantically for the snitch. It had whizzed upwards a bit and Rollin, the Ravenclaw seeker, was speeding towards it. James urged his Cleansweep forward and reached out with his left hand. The snitch seemed rather playful today and it darted away.
"ROSIER SCORES FOR RAVECLAW, THAT BLOODY FOOL, HE STOLE JAMES'S GIRLFRIEND! SORRY PROFESSOR! NO! I'M STILL COMMENTATING! I'LL BEHAVE!"
"Thanks, mate," James called sarcastically, giving up trying to catch the snitch as it disappeared from sight, "for broadcasting my life to the world!"
"It is highly entertaining," Lily drawled as she flew past to intercept the quaffle.
"Oh shut up!" he said, as Sirius resumed his…colorful commentating.
"RAVENCLAW SCORES ON GRYFFINDOR AGAIN, WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT! THAT SHOT WAS RIGHT TO YOU! OH, NICE INTERCEPTION BY FERA, PASS TO THE LOVELY MISS EVANS, SHE PASSES TO HART, WHO SHOOTS! YES! TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!"
James had always loved Quidditch. It was the one thing that could make him forget anything, along with flying. He loved watching people play and make complicated patterns in the air.
And as he watched the chasers pass to each other, something strange came over him. They had only been working to together for a week, and they were already in tune with each other's thoughts. Hart could throw to empty space and Fera would be there to catch it in a moment. Lily could drop the quaffle and have both Fera and Hart underneath her. She didn't even have to look.
A collective groan went up from the Gryffindor stands as Ravenclaw put another goal past the Gryffindor keeper. "IT'S A BLOOD BATH OUT THERE! TEN POINTS TO RAVENCLAW, WHICH MAKES THE SCORE 30-30. THE SNITCH HAS ALREADY COME OUT, WHICH IS STRANGE CONSIDERING IT'S ONLY BEEN HALF AN HOUR INTO THE GAME!"
The flash of gold caught his eyes, right next to Lily. The snitch was…following her. Not paying any attention to this strange behavior, he dove. He could hear Rollin following him on his slower broom. Recklessly, he took a sharp right turn to catch up to Lily, and pulled his broom to a halt in front of the Ravenclaw stands, where Lily would pass by him. She looked at him strangely as she flew by, the quaffle under one arm.
James shot after her, barely noticing when Fera dropped below Lily and Hart dropped below Fera. James frowned; Lily was much higher then the goal posts and wouldn't be able to put a shot through. He was having a hard time catching sight of the snitch because it was flitting through Lily's dark red hair. He ignored his throbbing wrist and concentrated on keeping sight of it.
Lily dropped the quaffle into Fera's hands and Fera dropped it into Hart's hands. Just as Jennifer threw it through the goal posts and scored, James reached out his hand and pulled Lily's broom closer to his.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?" she hissed, turning to look at him with fire in her eyes. James held up his hand, with the snitch in it, and she relaxed.
"Bloody hard to find while it was making its nest in your hair," James said cheerfully. Lily immediately put her hands up to her hair and James rolled his eyes. He dove with his hand raised in the air.
"AND JAMES POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH FOR GRYFFINDOR! WAS THERE ANY DOUBT? HAHA, YOU RAVENCLAW BUGGER ROSIER, THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR SHAG-PROFESSOR, DID YOU JUST SWEAR AT ME? DID ALL OF YOU SEE THAT LAST PLAY? BRILLIANT, THE GRYFFINDORS ARE LIKE A SEAMLESS TEAM! AND THEY THREW THEIRS TOGETHER IN A WEEK!"
Yea, James thought as he flew down to get his wrist healed, I like the sound of that, seamless team.