“Evans, are you coming?”
Lily looked up from the book she had been reading over the shoulder of one of the seventh year Gryffindor girls. “Huh?”
“Are you coming? It’s time…for the Quidditch tryouts,” James said impatiently.
“Oh…do I have to go?” Lily asked knowing very well that James would never let her get away. He had after all been looking forward to this for the past two weeks.
“Evans, you promised me you’ll go with me to all Quidditch…”
“Matches!” Lily interrupted him. “Matches, not tryouts, James.” James gave her a disappointed look and immediately Lily felt a surge of guilt run through her. She sighed and shot a last glance in the book the girl was reading. It had been quite interesting she thought, as she followed her husband and the boys down to the grounds.
During the two weeks that had passed since the start of term, James had talked about little more than the Quidditch tryouts. He had been hugely disappointed when it had been cancelled a week before due to one of the toughest storms Britain had ever seen.
Sirius, it seemed, was just as disappointed as James when the tryouts were cancelled. Like James, he seemed to think that the world revolved around Quidditch. Nevertheless he had used the extra time to persuade his friend Alex to come to the tryouts with him and try out for beater. He himself to James’ delight was going to try out for the chaser position.
When they came down to the Quidditch pitch everyone else seemed to already be there. Muttering an apology for being late, the boys went and stood next to the others that were trying out for the team. After he checked that everyone was there, Eddy started to tell them how the tryouts were going to work.
“You all know that what we need this year is one chaser and one beater, so there will be two tryouts. We will start with the chaser position, and anyone who wants to try out for that will have to score a goal past me, while handling Jordan’s beating and Millie’s, Gracie’s and Lily’s blocking, understood?”
Everyone nodded, although a couple of the girls and one of the boys frowned at the task.
“How in the name of Merlin are we going to do that?” one of the girls complained quietly to the others.
“I know, Eddy’s the best darn keeper this team had in ages. Almost no one scores when he is watching the hoops,” the boy who had frowned replied sulkily.
They mounted their brooms and shot up into the air. One by one the chaser applicants tried to get the Quaffle through the blockings and score, without being beaten off their brooms by Jordan’s Bludgers. The first boy to try out did not have much luck. He fell of his broom on Jordan’s first Bludger and had to go to the hospital wing with Madame Hooch.
The girl that followed him, who James and Lily recognized as Daphne, had better luck and was actually rather good. She scored on her seventh try on the hoops, which according to those present and James’ skilled eye as a chaser was quite impressive given Eddie’s competence as a keeper. Her result did also stand out as the best one through the next three tries.
When it was Sirius’ turn, there were several mutters around the candidates. Several seemed to think that Millie, Lily and Eddy would go lighter on him than the others. They couldn’t have been more wrong.
Eddy made absolutely no change in his efforts to keep the Quaffle out of the hoops, but both Millie and Lily seemed to enjoy the thought of giving their little brother a hard time. Those watching soon realized, if anything the girls had been holding back before, something they certainly didn’t do now.
Sirius however didn’t seem to mind or even be surprised by his sisters’ rough play, instead he smiled lightly as he with impressive skill managed to give them a run for their Galleons. Four times he managed to get past his sisters and on the fourth he did what no one had expected “ he tricked Eddy, faked him in the wrong direction and scored, three tries earlier than Daphne.
The crowd watching went completely silent. No one would ever be able to say that the team had given Sirius an easy tryout. He had been forced to work harder than any of the others, yet done better than all of them. Those still left shifted uneasily on their brooms, two of them actually pulled out knowing they would never beat Sirius’ result.
The following three tries were an echo of those before Sirius, and neither of them managed to score in less than eight tries. When they were done, no one questioned for a second that Sirius would be the next chaser on the team.
The beater tryout was somewhat different in structure. The team lined up on the sides of the pitch and charmed different objects to fly across it. The person trying out for the beater position then had to try and hit as many of the objects as possible with a Bludger while trying to avoid being hit by the Bludgers Jordan tried to hit them with.
By the time it was Alex’s time, he was almost a nervous wreck especially since the boy before him had been really good. Gathering his nerve Alex did his absolute best, which wasn’t bad at all, although not as good as the boy before him. When he was done with his try, he had hit four objects less than the boy and also been hit once by Jordan’s Bludger. He returned to Sirius side very disappointed.
“Well you did well anyway,” Sirius tried. “Maybe you’ll make the team next year, the beater position will be open again when Jordan leaves school you know,” he said encouragingly. Alex nodded slightly, but didn’t seem all that convinced.
As they spoke Eddy and the team came up to them.
“Craig, that was really good beating,” he started. “There is one thing that I wonder about though,” he added.
“What?” the boy asked.
“Well aren’t you a part of the group that just founded the new wizards chess club?” he asked.
“Yes,” the boy asked.
“How many times a week do you meet?” Eddy then asked and James suddenly realised where he was going with his questions, he shot of a glimpse at Alex who seemed just as disappointed as before.
“Two sometimes three, depends a bit. It’s new right now so it needs a bit of extra attention,” the boy answered confused.
“And if you had to choose? Wizards chess club or Quidditch practice?” Eddy asked, and even Lily knew what Eddy was aiming at now. So did the boy named Craig.
“Chess club,” he said truthfully, but with clear disappointment in his voice. Eddy nodded, he seemed to have expected the answer.
“In that case, Alex, welcome to the team!” he said. Alex looked as if he won the Quidditch Cup already and Sirius grinned and gave him an elbow in the ribs.
“I don’t think anyone questions the fact that Sirius is our new chaser “ that was down right impressive, especially with these two giving you so much grief,” he said nodding his head in the direction to Millie and Lily who grinned in response. “Well that’s it for today,” he finished.
As the Gryffindors started to leave Eddy grabbed Alex and held him back.
“I expect you to practise as much as you can, Alex. We’re taking a risk here, and we expect you to live up to it,” Alex nodded. “Good. I already know that you practise with Sirius, that’s good keep it up, but I also want you to practise with Jordan. We need the two of you to work as a team,” he said.
“Maybe then Jordan will be too busy to keep asking me out,” Lily whispered to a giggling Millie. Even Lily found this rather funny and giggled a bit in spite of James’ reproachful glance. James had taken a bit to Jordan, and felt rather sorry for his so far unsuccessful attempts to get Lily to agree to go with him to the ball.
He had so far made good on his promise to keep asking until Lily said yes, even turning down several other Gryffindor girls that asked him. Even so, Lily kept on refusing him and by the looks of it Jordan would either have to accept defeat or, as Lily had said, go to the ball alone. James certainly hoped it wouldn’t be the latter.
When they entered the castle what could very well have been a rather unpleasant surprise awaited them. James and Lily who followed after the others on the team last heard a girl’s scream already before they entered the door.
“Peeves! Don’t you dare throw that at…” New screams mixed with Peeves laughter when whatever he was throwing hit its mark. When they came in through the door they saw Peeves floating above roaring with laughter at his own ingenuity. Although they couldn’t make out what it was he was holding in his hand they gathered from the language used by the girl who had been hit that it wasn’t something you wanted to have thrown at you.
Just as Peeves raised his hand to throw whatever it was on Sirius, Lily stepped in.
“Peeves, not tonight! Sirius and Alex just made the team and I would be very grateful if you let them have their fun tonight,” she said calmly. Peeves looked rather disappointed but did nevertheless lower his hand without throwing anything.
James and Lily smiled. They remembered how shocked they had been when they realised that Lily and Peeves seemed to be on very good terms with each other. It was a liaison based purely on their mutual goal of making life as difficult as possible for Filch. Of course Lily’s habit of supplying Peeves with various products from Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes did not hurt the relationship either and as it were Lily seemed to be the only student in Hogwarts that Peeves never played a prank on.
“Tell you what,” Lily continued. “If you find Zelda Manning and dump that on her, I promise to supply you with large amount of extra sticky gum tomorrow. The kind that takes hours for Filch to wash out from Mrs Norris’ fur,” Lily finished with a mischievous smile. Peeves lit up brighter than a decorated tree at Christmas.
“Promise?” he asked dancingly, rushing of towards the dungeons as soon as Lily nodded her answer.
“So that’s how you do it!” Eddy exclaimed. “I have to hand it to you, I never thought of bribing him,” he grinned.
“It’s a bit more to it than that,” Lily frowned back at him before turning to the poor girl who had been hit. “Sorry I didn’t see him earlier, Gracie,” she said. “On the bright side though, it does seem to be something that can be showered off.”
“Lucky me!” the girl said sulkily looking down on herself covered in some green smelly substance. She turned and headed for the Gryffindor tower followed by the rest of the team.
“Lily, Millie aren’t you coming?” Gracie asked from the bottom of the big marble staircase. The girls looked at her and smiled.
“The boys deserve a party,” Millie said.
“And you really can’t have a party without something to eat and drink,” Lily filled in grinning.
“But you won’t make it back before curfew!” exclaimed Gracie a bit worried, causing not only the girls but also the rest of the team to laugh.
“Since when are those two ever in before curfew?” sniggered Jordan as the girls turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
He was right. To be out past curfew was really more an exception than a rule for Lily and Millie. The fact that Millie, in spite of being a prefect, seemed to break almost as many rules as Lily, had surprised James and Lily rather much. After the way Harry had talked to them in Diagon Alley they had both expected Millie to be rather well-behaved. It seemed however that the main thing separating Millie from Lily in this department was Millie’s ability to talk herself out of trouble.
The girls’ adventure down to the kitchens was painless and short. They returned to the Gryffindor common room with bags filled with butterbeers, pastries and cakes. They were greeted with their housemates’ cheers. They were all enjoying themselves royally when Harry came in to the room.
“Been down to the kitchens I see,” he said giving Lily a reproachful glance before he broke out in a smile. It was obvious that he was not going to do anything about the breach in rules this time, and instead he turned towards Sirius and Alex.
“I hear that both of you made the team,” he said. “I guess congratulations are in order.” He smiled at the both of them and ruffled Sirius hair causing him to frown with embarrassment.
“So Alex, now when you are on the team your parents might just let you have your own broom,” Harry went on.
“That will be the day,” Alex said sullenly. “They don’t really like magic, sir. They think it’s dangerous. They nearly flipped when I said I wanted a broom this summer,” he finished. Harry looked at him and smiled compassionately.
“I know they are a bit uneasy with all of this, but just give them time, they’ll adjust,” he said calmly. “As for the broom, why don’t I, as your head of house, write to them and tell them the circumstances? I’m sure I’ll be able to persuade them,” he said with another smile.
“Please don’t, sir,” said Alex in a very scared voice. “They’ll make me quit the team!”
“Now Alex, give your head of house a bit more credit than that,” Harry said smiling and crossing his arms. “I would never let that happen! So what do you say?” he then asked.
Alex still looked a bit unsure, but the thought of a broom of his own took over and he nodded his response. Harry gave him a final smile and patted him on the shoulder as he headed for the portrait hole.
“Have fun!” he said before opening it and stepping outside.
“Let’s go with Harry tonight, we haven’t been at the house for three days and I’m starting to miss Ginny and Christopher,” Lily said. James looked at her. He really would prefer to stay at the party, but then Lily had gone with him to the tryouts even though she wasn’t the least bit interested in Quidditch. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a peck on the top of her head.
“Sure, if that’s what you want,” he said and went with her out of the common room, after Harry.
They caught up with him outside his office. He was talking to the man they had now learned was Dean.
“Want a cup of tea?” Harry asked him and beckoned him inside his office. Dean accepted and headed inside.
“You know that I am really jealous of the size of your office, right?” Dean grinned as he walked down the spiral staircase.
“Well you might consider the fact that I don’t have living quarters like the rest of you,” grinned Harry back at him as he took out a kettle and two cups from a cupboard.
“So who made the team?” Dean asked sitting down in one in the armchairs. “I’m guessing Sirius didn’t have any problems,” he added. Harry grinned.
“He has been training the entire summer,” he said while continuing to prepare the tea.
“Well with you as a trainer I’m sure he’ll be spectacular. After all, Millie and Lily both are,” said Dean. “And the new beater?” he then asked.
“Alex,” said Harry. Dean looked at him with surprise, but then nodded as Harry handed him his cup of tea. “Then I’m sure Sirius is happy,” he stated. Harry nodded and took a sip of tea as he sat down in the chair opposite Dean.
“I had the first year Gryffindors again today,” Dean suddenly said. “I just can’t seem to get over how much Cassandra Archer looks like Hannah. It really is uncanny, almost like having her in the classroom.” Harry looked up at him and nodded again.
“I know what you mean,” he sighed. “Although…”
“Although what?” Dean asked and looked at Harry getting up and refilling his cup. Harry held out the kettle in his direction and waited for him to shake his head before he answered.
“She just reminds me of Neville sometimes,” Harry said almost absentmindedly. Dean thought for a while.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” he then said thoughtfully. “I’ve met her father once, by chance. He’s an awful lot like Neville too.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Harry said smiling. “Hannah marrying someone that reminded her of Neville.”
“Yes, it does. She did mourn him for a very long time, after all.” Harry just nodded his response. “So what did little Cassandra do that reminded you of Neville, by the way?” Dean then asked taking another sip of his tea.
“It’s…her behavior. You know she asked me something after our first lesson,” Harry said thoughtfully. “She suggested that the sorting hat had made a mistake putting her in Gryffindor, that she should really be in Hufflepuff instead. Can you even remember how many times Neville asked himself that?” he asked. Dean nodded slowly.
“He never did feel like he belonged, did he?” he said quietly. James and Lily looked at each other in surprise. Knowing Frank and Alice as well as they did they would never have thought that their son would have ever doubted belonging in Gryffindor.
“Do you still visit his parents at St. Mungo’s,” Dean asked. James and Lily started and stared at the two men in front of them.
“From time to time. It’s not something I enjoy doing, but since Mrs Longbottom died they don’t get any other visitors,” Harry answered seriously.
“I still don’t really understand how I could share a dorm with Neville for seven years without knowing that his parents were…”
“Tortured to insanity by death eaters?” Harry filled in. “Would you have told anyone?” he then asked. Dean looked at him over the rim of his cup and shook his head.
“I suppose not,” he said quietly. Lily gasped. She barely heard Dean’s answer for the range of emotions that washed over her. Alice had been a good friend, so had Frank, and the thought of them being tortured until they lost their minds struck her both with a deep sense of grief. Lily closed her eyes and leaned her head on James’ shoulder as he pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Well, at least they didn’t have to live with the knowledge that their son is dead,” James said in an attempt to comfort his wife. He didn’t know if it worked, he was a bit shuck up himself. Lily nodded into his shoulder but didn’t answer him.
They weren’t really aware of Dean and Harry finishing their tea, or of Dean getting up to leave. James watched absentmindedly as Harry sat down to write the letter to Alex’s parents, and he motioned Lily with him when Harry headed for home.