The next week of classes, being an exam week, plodded slowly along, but it did eventually come to an end. The following Saturday morning, promptly at nine o'clock, the Hogwarts Express steamed out of Hogsmeade Station and began its journey southward, carrying car upon car full of excited, chattering students, each one en route to his home for the Easter Holiday and each one anticipating two weeks of rest and relaxation before the final term began. Before any of them were ready, it was time for the third and final term of the school year to start, and they were all back on the train, headed north to Hogwarts.
The Gryffindor seventh years all crowded into one compartment and spent the train ride regaling one another with stories of their holidays. Mary had seen the boy from the Christmas holiday again, only to find that he'd begun dating another girl. The general consensus in the compartment was that he was a fool and didn't know what a good thing he was missing. Then Marlene told them all about her family's trip to Italy, and the bizarre ancient Roman wizarding customs they had learned about. Apparently they had all learned about the famous Roman wizards during History of Magic, but as none of them actually remembered anything from that class (expect, possibly, for Remus and Lily), Marlene's stories were something of a refresher course.
The boys, as it turned out, were full of tales of mischief, having spent the first week of the holiday at James' house. With only James' aging father and house elf for chaperones and the happy occasion of his eighteenth birthday to celebrate, they had run amok around the house and grounds much as they had when they were second years. After hearing Sirius brag for the third time about some ridiculous prank he had pulled on the Potters' house elf, Cholly,, Marlene turned to Lily and asked, "What about Petunia's wedding? How'd that go?"
"It went well," Lily answered. "No catastrophes the day of or anything."
"And did James win your parents over?" Marlene prodded.
Lily grinned and glanced up at James, in whose lap she was currently seated.
"Yeah, I'd say he did. He even managed to charm Petunia for a bit," she replied.
"That's my boy," Sirius said proudly.
Both Marlene and Lily rolled their eyes, and Marlene asked, "What about Vernon?"
"Oh," Lily began, then had to smother a laugh as she and James shared a smile. "I'm not sure he knew what to make of James."
"He was expecting someone a little different, I think," James said, "Because Petunia had already had to explain to him about me and Lily."
"Yeah. He got this really bizarre look on his face when he shook James' hand. Like he had expected to meet a bloke wearing a frog leg necklace and a pointy hat, not someone who looked so..."
"Normal?" James supplied helpfully.
Lily smirked and teased, "I was going to say 'handsome, intelligent and charming,' but sure. We can go with yours."
"Oh no. I defer to the lady," James hastened to say, trying in vain to suppress a grin as the others chuckled at the pair.
Sirius rolled his eyes.
Lily leaned up and kissed James' cheek softly.
"Any way, it was a much better weekend than I'd thought it would be," she continued. "Of course I didn't get a chance to relax until it was over, but having my parents all to myself this last week was fun."
"Good thing you had some down time over the holiday," Peter remarked morosely. "Once we get back, all we'll be doing is studying for N.E.W.T.s."
"Aw c'mon, Pete," James said. "There's still the Quidditch final. And the bloody awesome party we'll have when Gryffindor wins again."
Peter perked up considerably with this reminder.
"Oh yeah! Do we know who we're playing yet?"
"Slytherin and Hufflepuff've got a match to play," Sirius said. "And whoever wins that is playing us in the final, right Prongs?"
The rest of the train ride was spent debating the various merits of these two house teams. Once the boys got started talking about Quidditch, there was no way to stop them. Indeed, when the spring term began the next day, the whole school seemed to be infected with end-of-season Quidditch fever. The excitement only intensified the next weekend, after Hufflepuff beat Slytherin in the last match of the regular season. Hufflepuff was now set to match up against Gryffindor for the final in the first weekend of May. A good-natured rivalry sprang up between the two houses, with the whole school taking sides. The Slytherins, of course, sided with Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw was rather evenly split between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. The old "Potter Power" badges began to appear again as Gryffindor House rallied behind their team and its captain. Gryffindor, with their undefeated record, was the favorite to win. As the fateful weekend approached, the entirety of Gryffindor House was in a state of perpetual excitement.
Though she was not the most avid Quidditch fan, Lily found herself caught up in the anticipation as well. Along with Remus and Peter, Lily and the girls had begun creating a whole host of paraphernalia to wear to the match in support of James and Sirius. Lily had gone one-step farther than the "Potter Power" badges and had charmed one of her yellow t-shirts to flash the words in sparkling, scarlet letters across her chest. Marlene, Mary and Remus had shirts which flashed "Go, go Gryfffindor!" in succession, with each shirt sporting one of the words, and Peter's shirt displayed the Quidditch Cup on a banner of Gryffindor red and gold. But the piece de resistance was a giant banner bearing the words "Gryffindor for the win!" and with a lion's head in the middle. Lily and Remus were currently working on a way to charm the lion's head to roar and shake its mane every time that Gryffindor scored. The difficulty of this task was exacerbated by the fact that they were determined to keep it a secret from James and Sirius, whose expertise in this area would have been a tremendous aid.
The Quidditch excitement was also a welcome distraction from the N.E.W.T.s that were looming large in the seventh years' futures. It gave Lily something else to think about when she simply could not stand another minute of studying. Really, the only downside she could see was all the extra practices being held, which meant she had less time to spend with James. She was not quite sure how her boyfriend was managing all the demands on his time. In between his classes, N.E.W.T.s, his Head Boy duties and captaining the Quidditch team, she was surprised (but very grateful) that he still managed to find time to spend with her. There were times when she almost felt guilty for making him spend time with her or worried that he would rather be catching up on sleep.
But Lily's fears were entirely ungrounded. She was not forcing James into doing anything he was not already delighted to be doing. Though their relationship was now almost three months old, the shine had yet to wear off of it. James was living in one of his most cherished dreams, and he was reveling in every minute of it, despite how tired he was when his head finally hit the pillow at night. When he woke up on the morning of the final, he could have sworn the sun was shining brighter than usual. Today wastheday. The Quidditch Cup was just within his grasp.
"Today's going to be brilliant, lads. I can feel it," James said, as he, Sirius, Remus and Peter all descended the staircase.
"The perfect end to a perfect year!" Peter agreed.
Remus raised an eyebrow and reminded them all, "Well notquitethe end. There's still N.E.W.T.s to worry about."
James opened his mouth to remind Remus of today's no-N.E.W.T.-discussion policy, but he was distracted by the sight of Lily Evans sauntering towards him, fully decked out in red and gold (and looking bloody gorgeous in his opinion), with a huge grin on her face.
As today was a momentous occasion for James, Lily had gotten all dressed up (or as much as one can when wearing a t-shirt with someone's face on it). She had been waiting in the common room, with Mary and Marlene, for the boys to come downstairs, so they could accompany their Quidditch stars to breakfast with a reasonable amount of pomp and circumstance. Once she had heard their voices on the stairs, Lily had hopped to her feet and pranced over to the end of the staircase to meet them.
"Well hellooooo, Captain Potter," she said as James came into sight. As he stepped down beside her, she fluttered her lashes up at him, half in jest and half seriously. He did, after all, look absolutely stunning in that Quidditch uniform of his.
James grinned and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek as he slung an arm around her shoulders. With a nod towards the portrait hole, he led the group off towards the Great Hall and their breakfast, a decided swagger in his step.
The arrogant grin on his face was matched only by Sirius, who commented as they climbed through the portrait hole, "I can't wait 'til we get it over with."
Lily leaned around James and asked curiously, "Why?"
"You havenoidea how much Firewhisky is in our room," he responded with a wink.
Rolling her eyes, Lily said, "Should've guessed you'd say something like that."
James chuckled, but Sirius raised his eyebrows.
"Don't act like you don't want to get a bit sloshed today, Miss Evans," he said. "You're just as worldly as the rest of us, don't forget."
Lily lifted her chin and responded in lofty tones, "I just prefer something a bit more tasty thanfirewhiskyto get me plastered."
"Oh cut it out, you two," James interrupted before Sirius could comment back.
Accepting the change of subject, Lily smiled at both of them and tugged on James' hand as she said, "C'mon boys. We've got to get you fed good and proper before you go out and conquer the Pitch."
James grinned and followed her down the staircase.
"And off we go. Good thing we did homework last night, Lils, 'cos there's no guarantee any of us will be lucid enough to get anything done today," he commented with a laugh.
At the bottom of the staircase, Lily paused and leaned up to kiss the corner of his mouth. An impish smile played about her lips as she returned, "I'm going to remind you of that the next time you complain about me forcing you to finish a Charms essay."
"Hey now, no pre-match snogging," Sirius interrupted. "No bloke can fly straight when he's hard, not even Captain Courageous over here."
Lily's face flushed bright red, as Sirius had intended, and she unwound her arm from around James' waist to reach out and smack at Sirius.
James merely laughed and said, "Lily... he's telling the truth."
She frowned, then tossed her hair and said haughtily, "All right then. I suppose I'll just keep my hands to myself. Wouldn't want to jeopardize your performance." With that, she fell back into step with Marlene, Remus and Mary, who had been following behind them, leaving James and Sirius to lead the way alone.
"Don't sweat it, Lily," Remus said. "The pair of them are almost insufferable before all the matches."
"Well as long as they win...," Marlene said.
Changing the subject, Lily asked, "You and Peter finished the banner last night, yeah?"
Remus nodded, and Peter explained, "Yeah. Had a bit of trouble with that one. It caught stuck mid-roar, and we couldn't get it to shut up."
Lily's eyes widened. The banner simply had to be ready. They'd been working on it all week. She glanced down at her watch and said, "Well if we hurry with breakfast, we should have time to go fix it before the match starts."
Chuckling, Remus shook his head and said, "We wouldn't have been able to sleep if I hadn't already done so. Thanks, though."
"Oh. True," Lily said, laughing at her momentary lapse of reason. "So it's done then?"
"Yeah. I've got it in my bag," Peter answered, indicating the large, bulging knapsack he'd been carrying.
"Excellent!" Lily exclaimed as they stepped through the doors of the Great Hall. Spying James and Sirius making a bee-line for the Gryffindor table, she hurried to catch up. Once she reached James' side again, she tucked a hand through his arm and asked innocently, "So am I allowed to at least sit with you, Captain? Or is my overwhelmingly beautiful presence just too distracting for you?"
James raised his eyebrows and grinned down at her, "Of course you're sitting with me. Number one fan and all that, right?"
"Just checking," she said airily, then turned and stuck her tongue out at Sirius.
"I'm warning you, Red, don't try anything funny," he said as he plopped down on the bench and immediately began helping himself to a heaping plateful of breakfast.
"Yes, Mum," Lily responded, rolling her eyes at him.
At this precise moment, however, her charmed shirt made one of its switches from the sparkling "Potter Power" to the picture of James on his broom that adorned the buttons that half the Gryffindor table were wearing. Since this change took place across the very alluring curves of his girlfriend's chest, James watched a bit longer than was necessary. And the entire group noticed.
"Oi! Potter! Eyes on the prize!" Sirius exclaimed, thwacking his mate on the back, causing Remus to choke on his pumpkin juice and Marlene to burst into nervous giggles. Sirius nudged his best mate. "Prize, singular. As in the Cup. Not to be confused with cups, plural."
Flushing red, James hastily looked back at his plate and muttered, "Got it."
Lily was blushing as well, but she was also growing very tired of Sirius' comments.
"Are you sure you're ready to be eating with the big kids, Black?" she snapped. "Maybe you should go back and sit with the first years."
"Oh come off it," he returned. "If we lose today, I'm blaming you and your..." He trailed off and gestured towards her chest with cupped hands, which was now back to flashing words instead of James' face.
As Lily blushed an even darker shade of red, Remus took pity and kicked Sirius under the table. It was Marlene, however, who came to the rescue by changing the subject.
"So Sirius," she asked, "I hear you've got a party planned for tonight?"
His grin widened.
"It's going to be tops," he responded. "Everyone get excited. And no one under fifth year is invited to theactualparty."
Talk of the after-party continued throughout breakfast, but long before James would have liked, he and the rest of the team were headed out of the Great Hall, through the front doors and down the lawn toward the Pitch. Anticipation for this moment had been building for some time. It was the Quidditch final of their seventh year. James had led the Gryffindor House team to two successive victories in the years previous, but this match seemed even more direly important to the entire team. The majority of the team was in seventh year, and James knew that their thirst to win the match and give Hogwarts a proper goodbye was just as pressing as his own.
The customary pre-match time of silence was just as hallowed as ever in the lockers. James and his teammates got dressed quickly, each players' eyes bright. The energy in the changing room was nearly palpable. Once geared up, James called the team together. It was needless, of course, as there were no conversations to interrupt or focus to reclaim. The rumble of hundreds of pairs of feet overhead grew as almost the entire student body trooped down the lawns and into the stands. The Quidditch final was always the best attended match of the school year, and this day's weather made it almost impossible for even the most dedicated students to justify remaining inside.
"Listen, you lot," James said, looking around at the other players. "We're here, and we've earned it. I've got to say that it's been a damn good ride, too. But this is it. Everything's come to this moment. And it's time for us to get out there and play like hell."
A moment of silence followed.
"What, that's it?" asked Sirius, an incredulous grin on his face. "Prongs, it's the last time anyone is truly obligated to listen to you. Surely you can do a bit better. Here-" he said, stepping up next to his best mate. He cleared his throat and rumpled up his hair, eyes narrowed as if squinting, much as James did whenever he was without his glasses.
"Oi, listen up, you lot," Sirius said authoritatively, hands on his hips. "I know you're nervous, I know you're sore from that absurd four-hour training session I called last night even though you were all doing essays and homework and would have rather gotten good marks and a decent night's sleep. I know." He shot a grin at his best mate, who was wearing a rather amused expression. Sirius paused. "Care to jinx me for my sass, Prongs?"
"Oh no, you're doing good. I'm inspired. Carry on." James gestured toward the other teammates.
"Cheers," Sirius said. "At any rate, this is Hufflepuff. Huff-ull-fucking-puff. They've got a decent team, but it's nowhere in the same league as us. I mean, honestly, we've had this thing in the bag for ages. Brumley, you're the best Seeker at Hogwarts. Chasers, your formations are spot-on. Beaters, you're doing one hell of a job. And O'Donnell, we're blessed to heaven, hell and limbo that we found you. But now, it's time. This is seventh year, and this is very probably our last shot at ever playing Quidditch. We're going on to careers and life and the whole bloody world out there. So go out, and make me proud. Make your teammates proud. Make Gryffindor proud."
The Keeper, Nancy O'Donnell clapped her hands. "Full out," she said. "Thissus our time. Our match, and tha's our Cup."
"We'll flatten them, Sirius and I will, promise," said Joshua Finch earnestly, clutching his bat.
The often-stoic Roger Plumley cracked a smile. Mariel Bennett nodded.
"We've got this, James. Honestly."
"Oh, right, sure thing. No pressure," joked the Seeker, Jordan Brumley. Everyone laughed.
"Right, then," said James, grinning at his team, shaking his head at Sirius. "Let's get on with it, shall we? I mean, we've got a match to play, a Cup to win, and about fifteen bottles of Ogden's Old Firewhisky to drink!"
"Hear, hear!" Sirius said, tying his long hair back in an elastic.
As they headed out of the locker rooms and into the stands, James slipped on his bracers and leaned toward Sirius.
"Where did that speech come from? I've never heard you sound so much like Remus."
Sirius shrugged.
"That's the speech you gave us last time we played them, more or less. I added a few words. Hey, did you ever realize how poncey Hufflepuff house sounds? I just did now, when I was being you. Huff-ull-puff!"
James rolled his eyes.
"Is this really the time?" he asked. "You can talk about them being ponces when I've got that Cup in my hand."
"You're not worried, are you? Come off it, James. We're going to win it. It's just a matter of time before you and Evans are drunk off your arses and snogging. Hey, who knows? Maybe you'll get a little something from her, eh?" Sirius made a very provocative and involved gesture.
James' neck flushed. Before he could respond, they were blinking out in the bright sunlight. A deafening cheer rocked the stands as Gryffindor took the field. James felt his heart soaring, and for a moment, he wondered why on earth he had removed his name from consideration for the UIQL. Hundreds of faces stared down at the team, clapping and cheering. James grinned; he couldn't help it. The Hufflepuff team appeared moments later, and the sound redoubled. As he and the Hufflepuff Captain, Eric Chessey, shook hands, James was filled with anticipation. He let go of the handshake far too soon.
"All right, Potter?" Chessey grinned, twirling his Beater's bat.
"I reckon so," James returned, wanting more than anything to go mount his broom and get this match going. "Best of luck, and all that." Adrenalin was building a fire in his stomach. The sounds from the stands, the gleam of the goal hoops - it all was driving him to distraction.
Chessey nodded. "You, too. And all that."
"Mount your brooms!" called the referee, and the Captains took their sides, straddling their broomsticks.
At the whistle, the two teams soared into the air. When the ref threw the Quaffle high, it was James who caught it first. He caught sight of Jordan Brumley streaking off toward the north end of the Pitch, the two bludgers flying high before spiraling toward players, but then all was lost. His attention focused on the bright red ball under his arm. He took off for the Hufflepuff goal hoops, deaf to anything other than the wind in his ears. Mariel Bennett was close by, James passed to her and continued on. Joshua Finch appeared on his other side, and the Quaffle went to him with a solidthump. The Quaffle came back to James, who dodged a bludger and then hooked wide, throwing hard for the right hoop.
"POTTER SCORES!" roared the commentator. James couldn't place the voice, and the cheer was enough to drown out any of the stats the announcer was giving. He briefly searched for Lily at the front of the Gryffindor stands, but couldn't spot her. A bludger whizzed past his knee and he took off, heading back down the field where Macready, a Hufflepuff chaser, had the Quaffle.
James and Sirius almost collided when their paths crossed abruptly. James had to pull up sharply, and Sirius cursed.
"Head in the game, Prongs!" he shrieked, hitting a bludger with such force that it struck the Hufflepuff Keeper, Richards, in the stomach almost instantly.
And suddenly, Mariel had the Quaffle. She was flying toward him. He wheeled around and sped off toward the Hufflepuff goal hoops. Joshua was already there, waiting. Mariel chucked the Quaffle to Joshua, who feinted passing to James. Richards had drifted toward James, anticipating, and leaving Joshua with an entirely open goal.
"FINCH SCORES! That's another goal for Gryffindor!"
Macready had the Quaffle again. James accelerated and was neck-and-neck with Macready in mere seconds. He reached out and punched the Quaffle, but Macready held fast. He threw hard to his teammate, who dropped it. Mariel, flying below the fray, caught it, and changed direction so rapidly that James never registered her turning around. Wind whipped through his hair, the sun inched out from behind a cloudbank and momentarily dazzled him. The sound of the referee's whistle jarred him out of his approach on the Hufflepuff goalkeeper.
"Haversacking!" cried the commentator. "It appears that Bennett got a bit too close-"
James groaned. A penalty! That was the last thing he wanted. He ran a clean game if he could help it. Which, as Sirius played Beater, never actually happened.
Macready took the shot. The Quaffle sailed cleanly through the rightmost hoop. James groaned and dived to retrieve the Quaffle as Nancy punched the air in vexation.
"And it's twenty-ten to Gryffindor! And Potter's got the Quaffle, passed off to Bennett. Mariel Bennett with the Quaffle, to Finch, and back to Potter." The faceless commentator's voice connected in James' mind. It was Tristan Bishop. He smirked, remembering the night he'd cold cocked the boy, and chucked the Quaffle back to Joshua.
After the penalty, the Gryffindor house team intensified its efforts. The Gryffindor Beaters were flying almost recklessly around the Pitch, hitting the bludgers with such force that the Hufflepuffs had to bring on a reserve Chaser after Sirius hit Macready in the face, leaving him thoroughly concussed. The new Chaser, Jenson, had the advantage of being fresh, but it became quickly apparent that Jenson was a reserve for a reason. The stand-in Chaser turned over the Quaffle to Gryffindor no less than eight times in as many minutes.
Half an hour later, Gryffindor was up one hundred and ten points to forty. James' whole body was aching. Sweat trickled freely into his eyes, burning at the corners and blurring his vision. Victory was close, he could feel it as he searched the pitch for Jordan Brumley, who had been flying easy loops around the Hufflepuff Seeker. But where-? James stomach lurched in horror as he saw, moments before the crowd, as Brumley, hovering near the ground, bail off his broom and vomit in the well-trimmed grass of the pitch.
"And what's this?" came Tristan Bishop's voice. "Brumley's spewing 'cross the Pitch. Ref, come on, then!" A shrill whistle blast indicated a time-out. James shot toward Brumley, waving his team down. On the ground, Brumley lay on his side, clutching his stomach, his face pale and mouth smeared with sick. James dismounted hurriedly and dropped to his knees beside his teammate.
"Brumley, what's wrong?" James asked, horrified.
Jordan moaned in response and retched. James jumped back, but not quickly enough. He gagged, wiping Jordan's sick off his bracers. The crowd had grown relatively quiet, a loud rumbling murmur taking the place of the usual cheers or booing.
"Looks like an upset for Gryffindor, and I don't mean stomach," said Tristan Bishop's magically magnified voice. Sirius glared at him from where he stood on the pitch, raising his hand in a very rude gesture toward the boy.
"Potter! Brumley! What's going on?" Professor McGonagall and the school nurse were hurrying toward the fallen Seeker. "Did you eat something, Brumley?"
"Ooh, I wonder if he drank enough water this morning," fussed the nurse, kneeling down gingerly and checking Brumley's pulse. "Brumley," she cooed, "darling, can you hear me? What- did- you- drink- this- morning? Any water? Tea? Pumpkin juice?"
Jordan lifted his head and croaked; "Ch-chocolate milk,"before promptly vomiting again.
"Poor stupid boy," nodded the nurse, leaping back delicately. "I fear the little thing's dehydrated, Minerva. Hospital Wing, right away, no excuses."
McGonagall's mouth was stretched in a thin line. "Bring on your reserve, Potter," she said.
"But, Professor," he protested. "Surely there's a potion or something- he can't be that ill, surely!"
"Your reserve, Potter. Now." McGonagall snapped. "You have got one, haven't you?"
"Well, yeah," James mumbled, reddening. "It's.. er...me."
"Your hubris, Potter, is going to be the death of us all." Professor McGonagall closed her eyes. "Very well, play a man down. Get back on your brooms, the lot of you." She turned on her heel and stalked back toward the stands, hands balled into tight fists.
James stood and faced his teammates, whose faces were a mixture of determination and incredulity. He squared his shoulders and picked up his broom, thinking quickly.
"Team," he called, motioning them toward him. "Chasers, redouble everything. We're playing without a Seeker, so we've got to get a substantial lead before their Seeker can catch the snitch. Beaters, I want you to take the piss out of everyone on that fucking team. Nancy, don't let them get you on those penalties- you're better than that. We can still get this, you lot. No fear!"
"None at all," nodded Sirius.
As Jordan Brumley was escorted, retching, toward the Hospital Wing, the Gryffindors took to the air once more.
The loss of their Seeker seemed to give the Gryffindor house team new courage. Each seemed determined to outdo himself to make up for the team's disadvantage, but after forty minutes of hard flying, the general energy was flagging. Gryffindor had deepened their lead 220-80. James was panting, his arms burned, and he wanted nothing more than for Hufflepuff to catch the damn snitch already. He caught the Quaffle from Finch, but waited only a moment to check on the other seeker's progress.
He watched as the Hufflepuff Seeker dove toward the pitch, a determined grin on his face. James' eyes followed his descent and saw the snitch hovering near the grass by the remnants of Jordan Brumley's stomach. A bludger whizzed past James' left ear toward Brumley, and the Gryffindor captain wheeled around to see who had hit it. It was Sirius.
"NOT YET!" he screeched.
James' mind raced, and then a stream of swear words poured from his mouth. He kicked his broom forward, cursing his mathematical oversight. If he could score one more goal before that damn boy snagged the snitch, Gryffindor would have it. Flattening himself on his broom and racing toward the Hufflepuff goalhoops, he dodged the keeper and hurled the Quaffle as hard as his sore arm could manage. It was going to go in; he was about to score-!
"Go, go, go!" he urged the Quaffle.
The final whistle blew half a second before the Quaffle sailed through the rightmost goalpost, falling slowly and harmlessly back to earth. Behind him, the stands broke into raucous applause. James wanted nothing more than to sink to the pitch. He felt hollow. Blood pounded in his ears. He turned and flew toward the ground as the Hufflepuff team danced around their goalposts, arms in the air, shrieking with glee. His team joined him, rather slowly and unenthusiastically. They stood there a long moment, each unsure of what to say.
"Well," James ventured, trying to think of something he could manage without his voice cracking, "shit."
"And that's it, lads! That's the match! Gryffindor falls, last-moment, to Hufflepuff! That'll be an upset for James Potter, that will." Tristan Bishop's smirk was evident in his voice. "The score stands at two-hundred thirty, two hundred twenty to Hufflepuff! Ah, and there's the Cup, handed to Eric Chessey by our own referee. That's the match, lads. Wow, what a turnaround. "
While the rest of Gryffindor House filed dejectedly out of the stands and back to the castle to commiserate in their common room, Remus, Peter and Lily headed for the boys' locker room. When they reached the doorway, Lily pulled Remus back a moment and asked, "Can you just check that they're, you know..." She blushed, unable to complete the sentence, and nodded meaningfully towards the door.
Remus understood what she meant, and he nodded before following Peter inside. Two seconds later, he poked his head back out and smiled at Lily, "All clear."
"Thanks," she responded and followed with some degree of interest. To her dismay, she discovered that the boys' locker room did, in fact, smell like feet, but she was almost immediately distracted from this unpleasant smell by the realization that James was currently shirtless, seated on a bench on the near side of the room. As Lily had yet to encounter him in such a state of undress, she received a very pleasant shock at the sight. Had the circumstances been different, she would have been wishing the other lads would leave them in privacy for a while. Instead, she tore her eyes from James' chest and looked around the room for Sirius, who was in the back corner shoving his things dejectedly into his gym bag.
Peter was the first to break the silence.
"So...," he mumbled, unsure what else to say but uncomfortable with the lack of noise in the room.
Lily approached James slowly, sat down beside him and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey," she said quietly, watching him with concerned eyes.
James merely grunted and continued staring at his trainers, either unable or unwilling to make eye contact with any of them.
There was another long beat of silence. Then he took a deep breath, raised his head, and muttered, "Piss."
Offering him a gentle smile, Lily slid her arm around his shoulders.
"I know," she said simply, looking from James to Remus, who was leaning against the wall by the door, watching both of his friends with the utmost sympathy in his eyes.
From across the room, Sirius slammed his locker door shut and grumbled, "You and your damn breasts, Red."
"Real helpful, Sirius," Remus commented.
For her part, Lily decided to ignore Sirius' crassness. As best she could figure, it was his way of dealing with the disappointment. Instead, she nudged James in attempt to get him to look up at her and teased, "You're gonna be okay, right? Not planning to go drown yourself in the shower or anything?"
"No, no," he said. "I... it just feels really surreal. We've always known we were going to win, and-"
"And we didn't," Sirius interrupted, slumping onto the bench on his side of the room.
Remus rolled his eyes, hands raised.
"Again! So helpful."
"You guys played really, really well though," Peter interjected, attempting with his buoyant tone to boost the morale inside the locker room. "It was just rotten luck is all."
"Yeah!" Lily agreed. "That last goal you scored was... a bloody amazing shot. And Sirius, I've never seen you so er... accurate with your bat."
James sighed. Words seemed to fail him. He opened and shut his mouth several times, searching.
"I just... Merlin. Who would have seen it coming?" he said. "And Hufflepuff. BloodyHufflepuff."
"They've been a pretty good team this year, though," Lily countered. "Weren't you saying they played really well in their last match with Slytherin?"
"Yes well," James grumbled, unable to argue with this fact.
After another pause, Sirius stood up and said in falsely bright tones, "Well, gents, looks like we'll be drowning our sorrows tonight, instead of dousing our victory."
Remus smirked and responded, "We've certainly got enough liquor stockpiled for it. What do you say we eat some lunch first though? Alcohol and empty stomachs don't mix all that well."
"Sod you and your practicality," Sirius said as he walked towards the door.
"If you eat beforehand, you'll be able to drink more," Remus reminded him.
"Can we just nick it from the kitchens?" Sirius asked. "I don't much fancy seeing the Slytherins at the mo'."
As he followed Sirius out the door, Peter nodded, "Sure." Then he looked back at James and asked, "You in, Prongs?"
James looked up and shook his head.
"I'll be along later all right?" he said. Though he knew he would have to face the rest of the school eventually, he really didn't want to be the Losing Captain right now. All he wanted at the moment was Lily, and even that made him a little unsure. Would she still think the same of him now that he was a Quidditch failure, not a superstar? She had been so excited, had been talking about it all week. The rest of Gryffindor's disappointment he could handle, but not Lily's.
None of his friends protested, though Peter looked slightly confused as he shrugged, "Suit yourself."
"See you later then," Remus said, and nudged Sirius out the door.
Once his mates were gone and they were alone in the locker room, James reached wordlessly for Lily's hand and tugged her down to sit beside him.
Her brow furrowed, and she studied him with a worried expression as she settled onto the bench by his side.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Other than the obvious, of course."
"D'you mind if we just sit a moment?" he asked, looping his arms around her. Having grown up an only child - and a male one at that - James had never been prone to talking about his feelings, particularly the negative ones.
"Not at all," Lily smiled and cuddled happily close to his side. She was certain that James was more upset about the loss than he was letting on - why else would he have sent his friends away? - but she wasn't quite sure how to help. So they sat in silence for a few moments until the unmistakable smell of boy in the room became too much for her to bear.
"Although... can we sit someplace that er... doesn't smell like sweaty trainers?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.
James nodded, "Yeah. Let's go... someplace."
Standing, Lily tugged on his hand and urged, "C'mon then. It's a lovely day. We can go down to the lake." Maybe getting out into the bright spring sunshine would improve his mood.
He followed her down the path towards the Hogwarts Lake, holding onto her hand as though it were a lifeline. When they came within sight of the glistening blue waters a few minutes later, Lily finally broke the silence again, "I don't think people will blame you, you know. Not really."
James just shrugged and said, "Yeah. I hope not."
There was another pause, and then he finally voiced the question that had been bothering him since the end of the match: "So... this doesn't change things, right?"
Lily turned her head and looked up at him in complete confusion, unable to understand what losing the final had to do with their relationship.
"What do you mean ch-" she began, falling silent as comprehension dawned. "No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head emphatically, "How could you-"
Then her expression softened and she asked, "Have you been worried about that?"
His only response was a shrug, but Lily could see a flush creeping over his cheeks. Her heart wrenched painfully in her chest as she realized this must be the reason behind his inordinately gloomy state. Had he been expecting her to end things with him ever since the end of the match? She gave his hand a tug to stop their progress towards the shoreline and turned to face him, taking his other hand in hers.
"James...," she said gently, "I don't love you because you're great at Quidditch."
"I didn't say that, I...," he blustered, his eyes fixated on the ground once more, resisting the urge to squirm at the awkwardness of the situation. James was entirely unused to being vulnerable in this way, particularly with Lily, for whom he always wanted to appear strong, certain and capable.
"I know," she responded, giving his hands a fond squeeze. "But I hope you know that you're so much more than just a star Chaser to me, love. You're ridiculously smart and so fearless. When I'm with you, I feel like I could take on anything. And you always know how to make me laugh, no matter how horribly I'm feeling."
James glanced sheepishly up at her a few times, now doubly embarrassed at her speech, but remained silent.
"You're the kindest, most loyal person I've ever known," she continued. "I know I can trust you with anything.That'swhy I love you, James. Not because of how well you perform on the Quidditch Pitch. Or at anything, really"
There was a pause, and then she added, an impish grin dancing across her lips, "Although.. I do have to confess that your performance in the snogging category has definitely earned some points in your favor."
In spite of his dour mood, James couldn't hide a shaky grin, "Oh really?"
Lily nodded and stepped a bit closer to him, her jade green eyes shimmering with affection as she answered, "I love you so, so much. More than I ever thought I could love anybody. Losing a Quidditch game is not going to change that one bit."
"Swear?" he asked, inching closer to her.
She nodded solemnly, "Swear."
After a proclamation like this one, James felt the only proper response he could make was to kiss her. And so he did, wrapping his arms around her waist to hold her close. Lily responded eagerly, lacing her arms around his neck and twining her fingers through his messy, black hair.