As soon as the red ball left Julianne’s hand, Lily kicked off of the ground, imagining it to be James. She grabbed the Quaffle and did a loop around him and sped towards the middle goalpost. Before she knew it, James was shoulder leveled with her and reaching out to for the Quaffle. Lily held it out of his reach. James pushed her to the side a bit, trying to make her drop the Quaffle.
“Ha, ha! You can’t catch me, Potter!” She dropped down and zigzagged to the goalposts, James always trailing at least a foot from her broomstick tail.
A few meters away from the goalpost, Lily raised the Quaffle to score. James rose up and grabbed it. Lily tried to tug it away from James, but he never loosened his grip. Lily didn’t look down but she felt everyone’s tension and almost heard the hold his or her breath. She would not let Potter wrench the Quaffle out of her hands. She was so close to showing him that he was not Hogwarts’ “All Star.”
~
James was not about to let Lily beat him. He pulled the Quaffle closer to his chest, dragging Lily along with it. He managed to pull the Quaffle and Lily back to the middle of the field. Their faces were inches away and James dared not to breathe. Lily was glowering into his face.
Her eyes caught something behind him. He quickly shot a glance at where she was looking. Slytherins…. Snape and Bellatrix Black were sitting in the stands, observing Lily and him play.
@#$% them, James thought.
A palm gently, but forcefully, pushed against James’ chest and his was thrown off the Quaffle. James focused his attention on the game, but it was too late. Lily was already spinning off towards the goal, escaping him.
James dove down to the crowd of anxious students beneath him. As he whipped past Sirius, he said, “Slytherins.” He raced after Lily, who was already halfway towards the goalpost. His new model broomstick, Novastar III, was twice as fast as the school’s broomsticks (a.k.a. the one Lily was riding), outdated Stardust 86’s. He was level with Lily again, both their stomach’s pressed down against their broomsticks.
“Had to stop and chat, did you, Potter?” Lily growled.
“Yes,” he admitted, “but we have some unwanted guests.”
“You’re going to let Black tackle the Slytherins?”
“It’s the least I can do for you, my sweet flower.” James weaved his fingers through Lily’s arm and knocked the red ball out of her arms. It rose into the air, the setting sun’s light bouncing off its edges.
*Slow motion*
James pointed his broom in a vertical position and thrust his arms out. Lily gasped and rose her broom so it was level with the Quaffle. Then she stuck out her legs and her foot made contact with the ball.
*Slow motion ends*
The Quaffle shot right through James’ arms and scored through the middle goalpost. A ringing sound echoed throughout the entire Quidditch field, as well as the screams of excitement from the spectators.
James was left staring numbly at where the Quaffle had shot through the ring. How? How did that possibly happen??? He almost let go of the broom and slipped off.
He glumly looked behind him and saw Lily diving towards her thrilled friends. On the opposite side of the field, Sirius was chasing the pair of Slytheirns off the field with his bat and a bludger.
He caught the falling Quaffle with his fingertips and spun it over his head as if nothing historical happened.
~
Euphoria flooded through Lily. She flew straight into Julianne’s arms and they squealed and danced and did all girly things that excited seventh years do when they beat an arrogant Quidditch stars.
“Oh my god, Lily!” Amy screamed. She was jumping up and down, clapping her hands. Alice and Maya ran down from the stands.
“I TOLD you she was going to win, Alice!” Maya laughed, “Next time believe me!” Maya and Alice squirmed through the crowd that had gathered around Lily.
“Lily! Lily! Lily! Lily! Lily!” the group of chaser try-outers cheered over and over. Frank Longbottom and Alice were spinning in tick circles, laughing their heads off. But then some common sense knocked into Lily. Where was James?
She bent down and looked through the legs of the crowds and saw four pairs of feet trudging towards the boys’ locker room. Lily wove herself through the crowd. “Excuse me, excuse me.” Once her leg was through the swarm, she scrambled to her feet and ran after the Marauders.
“James! JAMES!” She slowed down and James turned around.
“You, er… you played well,” James said, before Lily could say anything. He gave a feeble smile and they shook hands.
“You did too.” James took his hand back and stuffed it in his pocket.
“I was going easy on you. So… you’re really thinking about joining the team?”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, and Julianne nudged me the rest of they way.”
“You mean that Quidditch isn’t just a sport for big-headed show-offs?”
“Only when you talk about it.” Sirius sniggered and covered his mouth. Lily saw a foot collide to where his legs meet. Sirius groaned and his knees buckled.
“Ouch, Prongs! That hurt!”
“Accident,” James replied without a care in the world. Sirius mumbled something about James being a bad friend and started inching towards the locker room on his knees.
“After all I’ve done for you, James!” Sirius cried, “This is how you repay me? I want children! O Lord, have mercy on me!” He gave a pretend sob and continued to drag himself to the boys’ locker room. “O.K. 1… 2… 3. Good I still have all of them.”
James still blocked Sirius’ pleas. “So, you want to talk about the plans for Hogwarts tonight during patrols?”
“I showed you them during Potions.”
“The parchment burned to ashes.”
“Oh, yeah…” Lily ran her finger through her hair. “So we have to rewrite them. That will take a while.”
“So? Tomorrow is Saturday. No lessons!”
“I know my days of the week, Potter.” James just tilted his head and swung his broom over his shoulder.
“You know, maybe we could meet at Hogsmeade and discuss-”
“NO! For the… what number was that, Sirius?!?”
“3,001 1/2 times, I think. I can’t concentrate at a time of crisis like this!”
~
James held out his hands and looked to the Heavens.
“I was just asking!” he cried. “Geez…”
“Well, you been ‘just asking’ for the past 6 years and it’s sparking my nerves!”
“I’m waiting for the correct answer.”
“The only answer I know for that question is ‘no.'” Lily turned on her heel and reminded, “9:00 by the Unicorn Fountain. This is just to redo the Hogwarts plan. Don’t be late, or I will leave at 9:01 flat.”