During the week leading up to the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Snape was so furious that he spent the week avoiding all contact with Harry. He went so far that he continuously ignored Harry during staff meetings and regularly got up and left the Great Hall when Harry walked in. Harry however didn’t seem to mind, and since Mille and Lily kept their promise of behaving and followed the rules meticulously, he had been in an excellent mood most of the week.
The girls, though rather bored with following the rules and spending their evenings in detention, had still taken pleasure in knowing that Lily’s hex on Manning had been good enough to keep her in the hospital-wing for three days before Madame Pomfrey had found a way to remove the boils.
None of this was on anybody’s mind today though. The whole school was filled with anticipation and only a few students talked about something other than the upcoming match. James was delighted to see that the Gryffindor students weren’t the only one’s to wear ribbons and badges supporting the Gryffindor team. Almost all Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students were supporting Gryffindor and the only students seen wearing green or silver ribbons were Slytherins.
As James and Lily followed Harry outside, James couldn’t help but to notice that the weather was perfect for Quidditch. The sky was clear blue with only a few airy clouds and the sun made the forbidden forest shine with shades from yellow to the deepest red. Harry took a breath of the high crisp air and set of. Not towards the Quidditch pitch though, but towards the big entrance gates leading into Hogwarts.
They saw them coming even before they reached the gate. Three red heads shining almost as bright as the forest accompanied by one dark blond mop of hair. Harry looked at them and raised his hand and waived. Four hands were raised in return as they all came up to him.
Harry gave his wife a swift kiss before subsequently greeting Ron, Christopher and Kevin. They started walking quickly towards the pitch. Kevin and Christopher were so amazed with the Hogwarts environments that they could hardly keep their eyes in their sockets and both of them seemed ready to run of and explore just about anything that came within sight.
“Now listen you two,” Harry said as they were approaching the pitch. “Remember, you’re not really allowed on Hogwarts grounds until you’re eleven, and I had to ask Professor McGonagall for special permission for you to be allowed to come. I’ll expect that you’ll behave yourselves today, and not give me a reason to regret asking her.”
The boys looked up at him and nodded although Kevin frowned slightly, by the looks of it all set to go straight into the forbidden forest to see what all the fuss was about. James and Lily smiled, happy that Harry had managed to persuade McGonagall to let them come.
They made their way up to the stands where Hagrid, Dean and Susan had already saved them seats. After a number of greetings, hand-shakings and hugs they finally sat down just as the Gryffindor players entered the field.
The crowd cheered and almost forgetting that no one would be able to hear him, so did James. The cheers lessened significantly when the Slytherin team entered the pitch, although the Slytherins tried to make as much noise as possible to hide the fact that almost three quarters of the crowd cheered for Gryffindor.
James studied the Slytherin team. He remembered from his own Hogwarts time that Slytherin usually went for strength and size rather than speed and skill, he could see from the team on the field that hadn’t changed.
Madam Hooch’s whistle sounded and to the cheers of the crowd the players rose up in the air. Christopher and Kevin were so excited they stood up in their seats in order to see better as the game began.
The Slytherins started out strong making several good attempts on the hoops. Eddy played perfectly but even he couldn’t stop the Quaffle from going in when two Slytherin chasers attacked him at once, showing James that Slytherin played just as dirty as he remembered. The crowed booed as Slytherin fouled their way to a second goal, giving them the lead 20 points to zero. The crowd practically roared when Sirius finally caught the Quaffle and passed it to Millie who scored the first ten points for Gryffindor.
Christopher and Kevin were jumping up and down at the stands cheering themselves hoarse as Millie assisted by Gracie and Sirius scored twice more for Gryffindor. By the time that Gryffindor was in the lead by 50 points to 20 Kevin seemed to have forgotten that Millie wasn’t his sister but joined in when Christopher chanted “Go sis!” over and over again with great emphasis.
The Slytherin chasers were far better than James would have thought by just looking at them. Still they had huge difficulties against Eddy’s goalkeeping. Almost miraculously he managed to stop three attempts in a row. Ron beamed and told Harry several times that he had absolutely right “ Eddy was an amazing keeper. It took a heavy foul for a Slytherin chaser named Barlow for Slytherin to score their third goal. The foul was punished by a penalty shot for Gryffindor which Millie shot perfectly past the Slytherin keeper, Scriven, putting Gryffindor in the lead with 60 to 30.
After a while James couldn’t possibly keep himself to the stands anymore. Grabbing Lily by the arm he pulled her despite her protests out to the pitch, telling her that there was no point for them to stay put in the stands when they could fly around in them midst of the action.
They did get a much better feeling for the game when they were in it and James started to feel the same familiar rush he used to have when he played himself. Moving among the players they could see the small hints and signs between the players, the looks exchanged before a pass, the close calls when a Bludger nearly hit one of the players. They saw Slytherin manage to score another three goals, Millie another two and Gracie her first.
Trying to get a better outlook James and Lily soared higher getting a good look at the entire pitch below them.
“So this is what’s it’s like to be a seeker,” grinned James looking at his granddaughter mounted on her broom just next to them, squinting to see the small streak of gold that would tell her where the snitch was. A couple of times she started moving just to break off again and three times she avoided rather close calls with Bludgers from the Slytherin beaters.
Suddenly James spotted a Bludger headed for Lily from behind. Realizing there was no way for her to see it in time he yelled out without thinking.
“LILY DUCK!”
James was just as surprised as Lily seemed to be when she immediately threw herself forward, avoiding the Bludger with the smallest possible margin. Confused Lily stared at the Bludger still pelting forward in front of her towards Jordan’s waiting bat. She shook her head as if shaking of the feeling and went back to looking for the snitch, but James was still nonplussed.
“Is there any possibility she could have heard me, Evans?” he asked. Lily just shook her head in wonder.
“I don’t know. She certainly seemed to,” she said sounding as baffled as James felt.
Deciding to see if his suspicion was right, James took Lily by the hand and approached Millie.
“Millie, go left!” he ordered, being immediately obeyed by a very surprised and bewildered Millie. James tried with Sirius getting the same result. He then tried telling the Slytherin beater to aim for their seeker, causing Lily to scold him for trying to influence the game but getting no response what so ever from the beater. Whatever made it possible for them to communicate with the kids it seemed to be limited only to them.
Their attention was quickly returned to the game when Sirius just managed to avoid a Slytherin foul. The crowd screamed together with James when the Slytherins weren’t punished for the try that had put Sirius in a rather nasty position. He was holding the Quaffle and Eddy had been very clear at their last practice. “Millie’s got the best aim of the three of you. Get the Quaffle, but pass it to her to score.”
There was no way Sirius could pass to Millie at the moment, but the hoops were not an easier target from his angle. Taking a risk, Sirius aimed; shot and to the absolute roar of the crowd “ scored.
James was screaming along with the rest of them when he in the corner of his eyes saw Lily diving dramatically towards the ground closely followed by the Slytherin seeker. The dive was spectacular, but the Slytherin seeker was steadily gaining speed “ closing the distance between himself and Lily. Inch by inch he got closer and James screamed in despair when he caught up with Lily, then pressed his way past her. If he caught the snitch now it wouldn’t matter that Gryffindor was in the lead “ Slytherin would win the game anyway.
Suddenly Lily pulled out of the dive. The Slytherin seeker looked at her in confusion, realising to late that the dive had been a ploy. Going to fast to be able to stop his broom, he hurtled down towards the ground hitting it face first with a large thud. With the Slytherin seeker on the ground Lily actively started looking for the snitch. She spotted it as the boy was just getting back on the broom. Hurrying to catch it she pelted forward her arm stretched out in front of her.
With their seeker just getting off the ground the Slytherins were getting desperate. Within seconds two Bludgers came dashing after her, nearly knocking her of her broom. With a sharp turn, Lily avoided them both but as a result she nearly collided with one of the Slytherin chasers and James swore he done that on purpose. For a second Lily looked around her in confusion and James understood that she lost sight of the snitch. Feeling his heart raze he knew that if she didn’t find it now, the advantage she had gained by fooling the seeker would be gone. He was up on his broom and headed straight for her.
Suddenly Lily through herself forward on the broom again, urging it forward. James felt like he was going to explode with emotions as he watched the Slytherin seeker do the same, once again closing the distance between himself and Lily. It took a moment for him to realize that their seeker was not going for the snitch “ he was going for Lily, trusting himself forward in order to run into her. For a terrifying second James thought he would succeed, then Lily stretched out her hand and closed it around the snitch. To the almost hysterical cheers of the crowd and James she raised her hand in victory.
Over at the stands Christopher and Kevin were dancing and chanting in happiness, and James was struck with the thought that if either one of them were ever put in a different house than Gryffindor their hearts would be broken. Then looking at them he really couldn’t see them in any other house than Gryffindor. The Gryffindor supporters were now filling the pitch trying to get to the players. Harry, Ginny and Ron took the still singing boys with them down and worked their way over to the team.
“That was brilliant, sis! Ruddy brilliant!” shouted Christopher to be heard over the noise of the crowd.
“Amazing flying!” added Kevin with a huge grin across his face. “And that Bludger you hit,” he said turning to Alex, “that was pretty amazing too.” Alex lit up in a huge grin at the unexpected praise. The start of the game hadn’t really gone his way and Jordan had basically been forced to coach him all through the first half of the game before he gained enough confidence to actually do what he had been practicing for two months.
Escorted by the singing and chanting supporters the team started making their way over to the locker rooms followed closely by Harry and Ron. When Christopher and Kevin tried to go with them they were however stopped by Ginny who to their wild protests started guiding them towards the Hogwarts gates.
“Mum no! We don’t want to go back yet!” protested Christopher with all his might.
“Yes, please Mrs Potter!” begged Kevin just as wildly as Christopher.
Their protests and pleas were however completely useless, Ginny steered them firmly forward, reminding them of their promise to behave. James and Lily smiled as they watched them go, feeling a bit sorry for the boys. They then turned and headed after the team and their supporters.
When they reached the locker room Ron had pulled Eddy to the side and the two tall men were talking intently. Eddy was practically beaming and both James and Lily quickly guessed what the conversation was about.
“For real?” they heard Eddy ask almost ecstatically over and over again as if he couldn’t really believe what his uncle was telling him. Ron smiled and nodded before he leaned forward to tell him something.
“What is that all about?” asked Lily to Harry curiously. Harry smiled as his nosy daughter.
“None of your business,” he said firmly. “It’s up to Eddy if he wants to tell you or not!”
Lily looked very disappointed but found her spirit quickly enough when Harry commended her on her flying, telling her that he couldn’t have done it better himself. He also handed over two bags of sweets and Butterbeers for the team to party on.
“So there won’t be any reasons for the two of you to venture out looking for some,” he said giving both girls a stern look. James and Lily looked at each other in surprise. It was the first time that Harry had included both the girls in such a comment. Usually he directed them only at Lily. Could it be that he started to realize that Millie was as big of a rule-breaker as Lily was?
Harry and Ron left the locker room as soon as Ron had finished talking to Eddy. Harry started to walk Ron back towards the gates as they merrily discussed the game and Eddy’s possible future in the Chudley Cannons. They were almost halfway to the gates when they saw Snape. He was standing in front of the entire Slytherin team, apparently in a rather horrible mood, telling them in his low threatening voice that he would make sure to replace every single one of them if they did not pick up their game. Ron grinned.
“He doesn’t seem to be in a good mood,” he said happily.
“He’s been in a bad mood for a week,” said Harry smiling. “He wanted to ground Lily from the game, but I managed to stop him just in time. He was furious! So much so that he doesn’t speak to me anymore, or even acknowledge my existence.”
“There is a blessing!” grinned Ron even wider. “Who would want that greasy old git talking to you,” he then said faking a shudder causing both James and Harry laugh out loud.
***
The next day the whole school was still talking about the match. It was another perfect autumn day and most of the students spent the day outside, savouring the last sunshine before the winter. James and Lily were thoroughly enjoying themselves walking around in the sunshine watching some first years re-enacting the match or a group of third years talking about how they were definitely trying out for their house team next year.
There was however one more subject that was being discussed among the students “ Snape’s foul mood. During the past week no one had thought Snape could be in a worse mood than he had been. They had apparently been wrong.
Snape hadn’t even showed up for breakfast this morning, but he had been stalking the halls and grounds deducting points from students for offences that hardly existed. Already before nine o’clock had he brought Cassandra Archer to tears by deducting 10 points from Gryffindor for making to much noise when he caught her laughing in the hallway. The students were all very grateful it was Sunday, but many feared Monday and the potions classes that was getting ever closer.
Lily and Millie however couldn’t care less about Snape and his mood. They were sitting under a tree by the lake together with Eddy and Jordan happily talking about Eddy being recruited to the Chudley Cannons.
After a while Lily got up and pulled Jordan up too. This time he didn’t misread her intentions, but simply followed her into the castle, in fact during the week that past since the incident at the Three Broomsticks Jordan hadn’t asked her to the ball once. Lily was in an excellent mood. James and Lily had noticed that she had been feeling a bit guilty about ruining things between Eddy and Millie the previous weekend, and by now giving them a new opportunity to be alone she seemed to feel very pleased with herself.
They were climbing the stairs up to Gryffindor tower when they heard Nott’s voice calling out behind them. Lily froze. Nott had still after Millie’s rejection not asked Manning to the ball and James and Lily both understood exactly what was going on in his mind right now.
“Nott!” she said simply as she turned around to face him.
“I want a word with you,” Nott said and surveying Jordan critically he added, “…alone!”
“Nott, anything you want to say to me you can say in front of my friends,” Lily said firmly. Nott shot another look at Jordan before he nodded.
“I just wanted to congratulate you,” he said. “I don’t care what the other Slytherins think, that was really good flying,” he said with an ingratiating smile. Lily raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Well thank you,” she said sounding just as astonished as she looked.
“Surprised that I would give the opposing team a compliment?” Nott said amused. “I’m not as bad as your best friend seems to think,” he added.
“Sister!” Lily corrected him almost automatically.
“Sister, then,” Nott said still wearing his ingratiating smile. “This is not the reason why I wanted to talk to you though. It has been brought to my attention that you still don’t have a date for the ball, I wanted help you out there, offer my company,” he said. Lily almost laughed out loud.
“Well how considerate of you,” she said in a mock friendly tone of voice. “But I don’t need your charity. I can find my own date thank you very much, and for your information it’s not like I haven’t been asked.”
That was an absolute truth. Jordan was not the only boy that had asked Lily even if he without doubt was the most persistent. At least three other boys had to James’ and Lily’s knowledge asked her, one apparently an old boyfriend from last term. So far Lily had turned them all down.
“Oh, I’m sure you have,” Nott said. “I’m just saying that I understand that a girl like you cannot settle for just anything. You’ll need someone presentable, someone like me. That can match both your looks and your good name. Now before you say anything I am well aware of the unfortunate detail of your blood being less than pure, but I think the Potter name more than make up for this sad fact, wouldn’t you agree?
James and Lily knew the last part was a mistake even before they saw Lily’s face twitch in anger. When she spoke it was in the low voice that she only had when she was boiling over with anger, the one that reminded them of a volcano about to erupt.
“Nott, get this through your thick head. There is not a single Gryffindor girl that would go with you on a date if you paid them to. Why don’t you just go back to that pathetic excuse for a human being you usually date, since she is the only one I can think of who has the bad taste to date a stuck up moron like yourself. Now I wish I could say this better, but I think my sister said it perfectly already,” Lily took a deep breath and stared at Nott with disgust before she went on.
“As for a date on the Yule Ball, I would rather go with anyone else than you. Actually I would say yes to whomever ask me next if it got you off my back!”
“Wanna go with me?” Jordan injected immediately with a huge grin on his face making both James and Lily break out in a laugh. Nott stared at him with the utmost contempt looking like he wanted to attack him.
“Sure! Whatever! As long as I don’t have to go with him,” Lily responded quickly gesturing towards Nott. She then turned her back at Nott and walked away. Jordan shot of a huge smile to Nott.
“Thanks mate,” he said giving him a pat on the shoulder, before he turned to follow Lily leaving Nott standing in the stairs looking furious. James and Lily couldn’t help but to laugh at the absurdity in the situation. Especially James found it hilarious.
“Blimey, who knew that the only thing I had to do to get you to date me was to get Snivellus to ask you out first!” said James almost roaring with laughter. Fighting the corners of her mouth twitching Lily tried to give James a stern look, but failed miserably making James laugh even harder as they headed after Lily and Jordan.
When they caught up with them, they were standing right outside the Gryffindor common room, talking a lot more seriously than usual.
“Look Potter…I’m going to hate myself for this,” said Jordan frowning. “If you don’t want to go with me I’m not going to hold what just happened against you,” he blurted out almost holding his breath. James and Lily looked at him with surprise, was he actually telling her that he would not hold her to her word?
“This is a surprise. You’ve been nagging me for two months, and now your saying that you don’t want me to say yes?”
“That is not what I’m saying!” Jordan said with emphasis. “I want to go with you; I just don’t want to force you to go with me because of some Slytherin git.” Lily stared at him, apparently too stunned to even speak.
“Wow, thanks,” she then said baffled.
“Welcome! I guess that put us back on square one,” Jordan said dully. He then turned around and started walking towards the portrait of the fat lady. Lily looked like she battled with herself for a while watching him go.
“Jordan!” she then said taking a deep breath. “I’ll go with you, if for no other reason then the fact that you gave me the opportunity to get out of it.”
“Really?” asked Jordan with a smile.
“Yes. But only as friends!” Lily said firmly when she saw Jordan’s smile. “Don’t go getting any ideas; we are not dating or anything. I’m simply going with you as a friend to the ball, that’s all!”
“Right! What ever you say “ just friends,” promised Jordan. Lily nodded shortly before making her way past him to the portrait hole. Jordan turned and followed her in, but with a smile that was a bit too big for someone that had just arranged to simply accompany a friend to the ball.
The Great Hall looked amazing when they arrived for the Hallowe’en feast later that evening. The ceiling was velvety black and dotted with stars. Live bats were flying across it or hanging of the walls and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins decorated the tables. The tables were soon filled with the most delicious food and once again James found himself missing the taste of food.
They moved along the tables listening to the students talking merrily and watching the ghosts try and amuse the students, Nearly Headless Nick by swinging his nearly severed head off his neck as if it was on a hinge.
Even Manning was in a good mood, although that might have something to do with Nott finally asking her to the ball.
“I don’t know what you were so worried about,” she boosted to her friends. “I for one was never worried, it’s not like he was going to ask someone else.”
Nott sitting beside her did however not look happy. In fact he looked terribly bored, as he stared over at the Head Table and Snape’s empty seat. He did however seem to be the only one in the Hall that noted Snape’s absence from the feast. The rest of the students were too occupied with discussing the food, the feast or yesterday’s match to care about Snape.
Harry too was looking like he had a great time. He and Dean were teasing Professor Flitwick about Gryffindor being in the lead for the Quidditch Cup getting him to up his bet on the final outcome. By the time the feast was over and Harry went home both James and Lily were feeling exhausted and were longing for some piece of quiet spending the night in Harry’s living room.