A few weeks later, Elsie was woken up by feeling a surge of water crashing down on her face. She sat up suddenly while gasping for air, and quickly opened her eyes to scan her surroundings.
A smirking Marlene was standing over her bed with her face placed right in front of Elsie's, "Good morning, sleepyhead." Alice was sitting on her bed laughing hysterically.
"McKinnon, you have about 3 seconds to run before I cut all your bloody hair off," Elsie playfully seethed at the blonde-haired girl. Marlene's eyes widened in shock while gasping, "You wouldn't dare!"
Elsie shot out of bed while grabbing her wand.
"3..."
"Els... Elsie don't do this, I didn't mean-,"
"2..."
"ELSIE!"
"1..."
"WAIT, WAIT...," Marlene pleaded waving her hands in surrender, "I just woke you up because we have Quidditch try outs in an hour!"
"Oh! Well why didn't you say so!" Elsie put her wand down and skipped over to Marlene, kissing her on the cheek. "I'd never cut off your hair, by the way," Elsie winked at her.
"Bloody psycho that one is," Marlene grumbled jokingly rolling her eyes.
"I don't know how I put up with either of you," Alice giggled.
Elsie quickly got ready, throwing her wet hair into a high pony tail and changing into her Gryffindor quidditch robes. Her, Marlene, and Alice linked arms and skipped all the way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Hey Lils!" They all greeted at the same time, sitting down with her at the Gryffindor table.
"Hey! Els, Mar, you guys ready for tryouts?" Lily asked while biting into a piece of toast.
"Hell yeah! I can't wait to win the cup this year. It has to be us!" Elsie excitedly exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air.
"That's the spirit, Tibbles! Especially since you have an amazing captain this year," James said with a smirk while sitting down, seeing that all 4 boys had just showed up at the Hall.
Elsie scoffed, "Yeah, yeah. Don't get a big head already."
The table giggled at this as Lily chimed in, "Do you think there will be a big turn up?"
James' face glowed after seeing that Lily directed her question at him.
"Well, I hope so. We pretty much have a set team, but we definitely will need reserves and a new keeper since Wood graduated last year," he stated.
"Well, at least you'll have a smoking hot commentator," Sirius smirked.
"I didn't know Moony was the commentator, Pads," Elsie joked with the group, sending a wink towards Remus.
"Ha, ha. Very funny. I was talking about me you git," Sirius pointed his fork at her while rolling his eyes. The whole group laughed at the two bickering students.
Suddenly, the Great Hall doors opened and a pink-haired Rory McLaggen walked in, a small brunette tucked under his arm. He winked at her as she walked away from him.
He strolled over to the Marauders and squeezed himself into the seat between Elsie and James.
"Nice hair, McLaggen," Sirius smirked. "Yeah, but I do have to say, pink is not your color," James chimed in, high-fiving Sirius while doing so.
Elsie chuckled both at the pink-haired Rory and the teasing done between her two friends.
"I'd have to agree with you, Potter. The ladies do seem to love it," Rory mocked while gesturing to the brunette sending him a flirtatious wave from behind him, "I'm sure that your sweet Elsie over here loves it as well."
"I beg to differ," James gritted through his teeth, slamming his fork into a sausage link that was on his plate.
"I'd rather hear her beg instead," Rory replied slyly, getting James angry in the process.
"McLaggen, what are you even doing here!" Elsie snapped just in time to cut off James from doing or saying anything stupid. She shoved her fork into her eggs and placed it in her mouth.
"Relax, babe. I just wanted to show off the new hair, thanks to your idiot friends," he said while swiping his thumb across her bottom lip. "Sorry, you had something there," he smirked, getting up from the table.
"No she didn't you prat!" James snapped at him. "You're right, she didn't," Rory winked at the girl and walked away from the table.
"Honestly Els, I don't know how you ever dated that pig," James grumbled to her.
"People change, Potter," Lily pointed out, giving him a knowing look.
"Yeah... he wasn't always like that. He used to be... well really bloody sweet," she sadly admitted.
"Yeah, that and the fact that he's fucking hot," Marlene commented while casually sipping on her juice.
Elsie and the rest of the girls snickered, while most of the boys went wide-eyed and stared at her like she was crazy.
"What!? It's true and you all know it. He's practically the hottest wanker in this whole school!" She defended herself.
"You're not wrong," Elsie giggled, "I mean, I do have eyes." Remus chuckled at the girl, while James remained quiet.
"Well, he can't be hotter than me," Sirius smugly smiled.
"In your dreams, Black," Marlene scoffed, her eyes lingering extra long on the long-haired boy.
"I'd rather be in your dreams, McKinnon," he ended the conversation with a wink.
"Alright, let's go you gits. We have to be on the field in 10 minutes," Elsie explained while standing up from her seat.
Elsie, James, and Marlene headed out to the Quidditch field, while Lily, Alice, Remus, Peter, and Sirius went to watch.
Elsie had been chaser on the team, as well as James, since their second year. Sirius had joined them on the team as beater in the third year, but quit after claiming it to be "too much commitment" for him. However, after Sean Wood graduated last year, James had got promoted to Captain, leaving him in charge of tryouts this year.
"Alright everyone, gather 'round! I'm so happy to see so many familiar faces," he winked at Elsie, "and so many new ones, too. I don't care how long you've been on this team. I will be taking the best players, with the best drive to work hard, and put their heart into it."
He paused and took out a clipboard with everyone's name on it, "I will be running a few drills and see who I like. Then, we will play a scrimmage to see who can be a good team player and can work well under pressure. Being that today is Saturday, I will have the results posted tomorrow morning if everything goes as plan. I wish you all the best of luck!"
"Aye, aye captain!" Elsie giggled, saluting her hand towards James.
He chuckled at the giggling girl before continuing, "Keepers, chasers will be running a shooting drill on you. Seekers, you'll be chasing around a mock golden snitch. Beaters, practice hitting the bludgers back and forth with each other. You can pick you're own partners."
"Wicked," Fabian and Gideon Prewett, permanent Gryffindor beaters since their 4th year, said at the same time.
Elsie, James, Marlene, and a few other younger students trying out to be chaser headed over to the field in order to begin shooting on the keepers. Unfortunately, McLaggen has been reserve keeper for Wood all these years, meaning he will most likely earn the spot.
The three friends worked perfectly in sync with each other. They made some amazing plays and some amazing shots, although a lot of them were stopped by McLaggen. At least he's a good keeper, Elsie thought to herself.
When tryouts were over 3 hours later, James had pretty much made up his mind. He wrote down all the names and the practice schedule as follows:
Keeper: Rory McLaggen, Jamie Smith (reserve)
Beaters: Gideon Prewett, Fabian Prewett, Gordon Wright (reserve)
Chasers: James Potter, Elsie Figg, Marlene McKinnon, Brendan Wolpert (reserve)
Seeker: Delia Robins, Aaron Vane (reserve)
Practice will be held every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 o' clock starting in the month of October, a week from today. Keep up the good work!
After reading over his decisions, he folded the sheet and shoved it in his pocket. He would post it tomorrow morning as soon as he woke up.
"Hey, guys!" Alice came running over to her three friends on the field, "You guys were brilliant. I think you've got it in the bag this year, James." Elsie wrapped Alice in a big, sweaty hug much to her disapproval. A second later, she had done the same thing to Remus.
"Thank you, Els," Remus chuckled while speaking, "I wanted nothing more than to be covered in your sweat."
"You're welcome," she brightly smiled at the sarcastic boy.
"Evans, do I get a hug?" James smirked at Lily, who was standing next to Sirius and Peter. "Win a game and then I'll think about it," she sent a small smile to the boy. His heart fluttered.
"Do my eyes deceive me or did Lily Evans just smile at James Potter," Sirius joked with the group.
"Shut it, Black!" Lily replied, rolling her eyes and crossing her hands over her chest.
He chuckled and then continued speaking, "Well McKinnon, where's my hug?"
Before anyone had time to react, Marlene grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt and kissed him straight on the lips.
"How's that for a hug, Black," she winked at the dumbfounded boy whose mouth dropped, and began walking back towards the school.
"I think Padfoot's in love!" James mockingly swooned with his hand on his forehead.
Sirius, whose mouth was still wide open, remained frozen to the ground. A contemplative look took over his face, until a small pink tint rose to his cheek. He quickly shook his head, as if he was distraught, and began heading back to the castle wordlessly.
The rest of the group followed after him, but Elsie only got a few steps in until she realized Remus was still standing in the same spot. His nose was crinkled in thought and his gaze was spaced out ahead of him.
"Alright, Remmy?" The brunette called back at her friend.
He looked as if he wanted to say something, but instead shook his head and shot her a small smile, "Alright."
She wasn't fully convinced in his answer, but she knew when not to push him. Instead, she tucked herself under his arm and led him back to the Gryffindor common room to meet up with their friends.
Elsie, Peter, and Remus began working on a charms essay due soon, while Lily and Alice were concentrating on their game of Wizard's chess. James and Sirius just finished playing a round of exploding snaps, when James interrupted the comfortable silence.
"Pads, i've got to start my Herbology homework now," he said casually, "And you should too! It's due on Monday!"
"Okay, Euphemia," Sirius mocked James while rolling his eyes. Elsie thought it was sweet how he thought of James' mum as his own. She loved seeing Sirius have an actual family, people who actually cared about him.
"You'll be thanking me when you don't fail your classes!" James exclaimed, dramatically pointing his finger at Sirius.
Elsie giggled and looked up from her essay, "You're such a mummy, Jamesie."
"I am not!"
"You are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too !"
"Am-,"
"If you two don't stop arguing like an old married couple I will hex you both," Sirius complained while cutting off their banter. Elsie's cheeks flushed red at the simile he used. James simply rolled his eyes at his friend.
"Well, I think it's good that he's the mum friend of the group," Lily casually started without looking up from her game, "someone has to take charge."
"You only say that because you're the mum friend of our friend group," Marlene rolled her eyes and chuckled.
"Would you look at that, Lily-flower! We have something in common," James smiled excitedly at the girl. The group laughed at yet another one of James' attempts to explain why he and Lily would be perfect for each other.
"The first Hogsmeade trip is coming up," Peter pointed out to the group.
"Wormy's right, I think it's coming up next weekend," Remus explained, finishing his essay and looking up at his friends.
"James, aren't you going to ask Lily again?," Alice chuckled, being elbowed by Lily while doing so. Elsie's smile dropped, what if she says yes this time? Stop it Elsie, you have to stop thinking about him. It's bound to happen, you might as well start getting used to it.
Elsie's thoughts were interrupted when Lily retorted, "Alice aren't you going with Frank?" Her face immediately blushed red, "I-I... he hasn't a-asked yet."
Sirius nudged James in the side, "Fortescue is right, though. Prongs, just ask her now and get it over with."
"Well...erm, I actually wasn't going to ask her this time," James awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, while the entire group, including Lily, looked up at him confused.
"You aren't?! Are you sick, Prongs?" Peter piped up.
"No! No... I just... I don't know. I figured she doesn't want to be annoyed with that anymore," his face hung low in embarrassment. Something in Lily's facial expression changed. It's as if she was looking at a whole new person, and Elsie noticed this right away
"Thank you, James... that's really mature of you," Lily responded looking at him with a small smile and slightly red cheeks.
"You didn't call me Potter," He said with a look as if he thought she made a mistake.
"I thought you didn't want to be annoyed with that anymore," she smiled and looked down, copying his words.
Elsie sighed at the sweet moment that had just occurred between the two. If it had been any other people, she would've been jumping off the walls. But right now, all she could find herself doing is pulling up her legs to her chest and resting her chin on her knees.
She was happy for James, she really was. Elsie just wished it was her that made him happy, not Lily. She wished it was her having a sweet moment with James, not Lily. But once again, she just half-heartedly smiled.
After all, it was always meant to be Lily and James, not me.
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AUTHORS NOTE:
My heart breaks for Elsie. It really sucks loving someone, but them loving someone else. I would never wish that even on my worse anymore.
Thoughts and/or comments?