Lily Evans and the Marauder's Secrets

Gryffindor vs. Slytherin

"What's the matter, Evans?" a voice jeers behind us, and we turn to see Rosier and Mulciber slide into the seats behind us. Severus, looking like he's not entirely sure he belongs with them, takes his seat last with a pained look at me. "Worried about Potter out there?"

"No," I say, glaring at them and fastidiously ignoring Severus. I'm irritated he's here with them but figure it must be somehow connected to keeping his cover. Whatever it takes... "And I think you're confused. The Slytherins are sitting over there." I jerk a finger in the direction of the rest of their green and silver clad supporters.

They, however, ignore me.

"And what about you, Black? Supporting your brother at all today?"

Sirius doesn't even spare them a glance over his shoulder, keeping his eyes trained on the sky. "Don't think he needs my support," Sirius says. "Looks like he's got enough from you."

"Blood never did mean anything to you," Rosier sneers. Sirius's shoulders stiffen but still he doesn't turn.

"Better hope Potter's prepared," Rosier hisses, leaning forward to speak directly in my ear. It takes everything I have not to flinch away; his proximity ripples goosebumps down my arms. "He's going to need it."

"Good thing Emmeline didn't come today," I whisper back. "Otherwise, how would you explain all this to her then?" Emmeline had indeed opted to skip the match; between her less than enthusiastic opinions about Quidditch as well as not wanting to get caught between this exact rivalry, it had been an easy call. Privately, I'm relieved. Any time I can get her away from Rosier is time when I can stop worrying about her getting hurt. Now that Em and I are friends again, I keep waiting for the moment Rosier will decide it's not worth it to keep her around, know she'd never choose him over me, see that she's only doing it as a cover at this point. And every day Emmeline reassures me she's perfectly safe, things are going perfectly normal, and that I need to calm down.

Rosier doesn't like that I've brought Emmeline up though; I can tell by the way he doesn't have a retort and draws back in his seat. We watch in silence as both teams finish their warm-ups and land on the muddy ground to prepare for the start of the match, but none of us can relax knowing the Slytherins are right at our backs. Once the teams have split to the opposite ends of the pitch and Madame Hooch hauls the crate of the official Quidditch match balls, Sirius stands and makes his way to the commentator's box, his anger and discomfort evident in the stiff line of his spine.

A moment later, his voice booms around the stadium.

"Welcome to the long-anticipated match of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin!"

The crowd erupts into cheers, and I lean to whisper to Remus. "He's good." You'd never know how bothered Sirius had been by the Slytherins. Even me, listening for it, can't detect anything other than his usual enthusiasm for a match day.

Remus nods, his eyes flicking back briefly to the Slytherins again. "He's had plenty of practice covering up his emotions."

"As everyone is plenty aware of by now, the winner of this match will play in the final match of the year for the Quidditch Cup against current forerunner, Hufflepuff."

A shriek of celebration from the yellow and black block of the stands.

"No one can deny Slytherin has put up a good fight this year, but it's hard to deny Gryffindor's skill and, of course, they are the defending champions."

Mixed reactions from the crowd, with Slytherin and Gryffindor alternately booing and cheering for their House.

"So, I think we can all expect one hell of a match today!"