TRENTE TROIS
it's a mystery that james is still head boy!
"WILL YOU GO to the ball with me?" Lily asked James during breakfast. It was the last week and a half leading up to the ball and huge proposals were being made.
Some of the most memorable included when Ryan Allen-Chang commissioned the Gryffindor Quidditch team to choreograph a dance to "Adore You" by Harry Styles in order to ask Nyah. And when Fred ( with the help of James ) decked out the entire Great Hall in red roses overnight and released doves the next morning during breakfast to ask Lorcan.
The younger years also got into it, but perhaps not as much as those that knew this would be their last shot at childhood. However, everyone was waiting for James to ask Lily, but it never came.
Perhaps they were both too busy checking the decorations and food and everything over and over again to make sure it was perfect. But, this was James and Lily, no matter what they did, it would be perfect because of the amount of care they put into it.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" James shouted.
"Mr. Potter!" Clearwater yelled from the teacher's table.
"'t's not my fault Professor!" James yelled as he stood up. "I was going to ask my girlfriend to the ball, but she beat me to it! It was going to be wicked!"
"Oh shit," Lily muttered. "Sorry? You can still ask me though."
"No, no the moment's ruined," James huffed as he plopped back down with crossed arms.
"Please," Lily pleaded with him as she took his hand. "I really want to see it."
"Fuck fine," he grumbled. "Start 'er up boys!"
Then, Fred, Lorcan and Lysander all got onto the tables. Lorcan was on bass, Fred on electric guitar and Lysander on drums. Lysander, sat, twirling the drum sticks in his fingers, while Fred and Lorcan waited for James.
Assuming he had cast a summoning spell, a microphone flew into James's hand and the intro to "No Control" by One Direction started to play.
"Oh dear lord," Lily whispered as she set her head on the table. "Do you know what this song is about?"
"'course," James replied with a wink.
She knew there was no way she could stop him from singing it, even if she made another recommendation, based on the way she saw some of the house elves that worked in the kitchen pushing lights into the room.
James started singing, perfectly in tune. And he had an incredible voice. Lysander was vibing on the drums and Lorcan and Fred shredded their respective instruments.
Each boy was on each of the house tables, Lysander was, obviously, seated, but Lorcan and Fred danced around each of their tables. When it came to the chorus, the boys all harmonized like the band members.
If their fan girls weren't already crazy, they went feral. Lily, however, sat trying to hold in her laughter at the song choice. She looked up, amused, as James danced provocatively on the Hufflepuff table above her, her head in her hands.
Once James started the last chorus, the lights in the Great Hall dimmed and went black. Then, burst to life with gold, red and black confetti burst everywhere. James, Lorcan, Lysander and Fred were no longer in their uniforms but all of them in skinny jeans, James in a loose ( not very buttoned ) button up, Lysander with just a jean vest, Fred in a muscle tee and Lorcan in a loose green t-shirt.
The boys danced even harder on the tables, really getting into the song. They jumped and high fived people and spun around. Everyone started to get up and dance on the ground with each other, yelling the lyrics at the top of their lungs.
James had his big finish with shooting gold fireworks behind him that read: "Ball?" into the air. They lit up Lily's eyes as she looked up with the biggest smile he'd ever seen. She feigned considering saying no.
"I'll do it if you give us an encore," she said smugly.
The hall started cheering and agreeing with her.
"Let's get her boys!" James yelled into the mic, sending Lysander a smirk.
Lysander led them into "Midnight Memories" and holy shit, everyone, not just the fan girls went feral. They were all dancing and yelling at the top of their lungs as the boys sang their hearts out.
Their eyes shone as they sang each verse and yelled into their mics at the end of each chorus.
Nyah hoisted Lily up and they spun each other around to the beat, but Lily saw Ryan out of the corner of her eye and shoved Nyah towards him. She looked up at James and admired him and how much he was into his performance. The lights were now red and blue rather than gold and more confetti had appeared, but this time in black and white.
James caught her eye and winked, making her roll her eyes, but blush. Ben's hand found her's as he spun her around in place of his sister. So, while James sang his heart out, Ben and Lily danced to his voice, screaming the lyrics at the tops of their lungs.
If one started singing in place of the other, the hall took a moment to cheer their name. All four boy's faces were bright red as they played.
Once Fred let the last few notes ring out from his guitar, the crowd went wild.
"That was amazing, darling," Lily yelled up at James.
He pulled her onto the table and looked at her expectantly as the crowd quieted down to hear her answer.
"Yes, I will go to the ball with you," she said as she started to laugh at the drama.
James shut her up with a quick, sweet kiss. He then turned towards the crowd and lifted his and Lily's hands in the air together as some people cheered and others clapped.
All of the joy that James felt soon turned to nerves as the tournament approached. They'd had preliminary games over the past couple of weekends, but soon the day of the tournament arrived.
Yes, the day. James Sirius Potter had stupidly scheduled the entire tournament for one day so it not only tested their skill, but also their stamina. And so, the next morning after singing One Direction at the top of his lungs in skinny jeans, he sat at the Gryffindor table quietly pushing eggs around his plate.
He stared at them knowing that this would be the last couple of games he ever played for Gryffindor. His legacy depended on these games. Whether or not he lived up to James Potter i and Sirius Black depended partially on this. He was determined to get it right.
Lily was happily chatting next to him with Lorcan as they both clutched their silent boyfriend's hands in an attempt at normalcy, both freaked out at how little they were talking. Fred sometimes jumped into the conversation, but James stayed dead silent.
Lily rubbed her thumb over James's hand and she laughed with Lorcan about a mistake that Clearwater had made on their exam, one that they had both caught at the exact same time. She had given up on trying to have James enter the conversation a while ago.
The Hufflepuffs were the first to get up and leave the Great Hall to go and practice ( wanting to restore their winning streak ), followed by the Slytherins, then the Ravenclaws. The Gryffindors stayed put.
Nyah was looking over worriedly at James ever so often. She knew how much this tournament meant to him, so had handed over full captain powers to him for the day, but would take them back if he didn't move soon.
Her and Lily made eye contact several times while they talked to other people.
"Don't you think it's about time we headed down to the pitch?" Lily asked, intending for James to hear it.
"You all go ahead," James mumbled.
"Don't you get it mate?" Ryan Allen-Chang yelled from his seat next to Nyah. "We go when you go. You go to hell, we go to hell. You go to pitch, then we go to the pitch."
James looked up with void eyes, but a small spark alit in them. He smiled tentatively and got up slowly from his seat. Lily followed him as he led his team to the Gryffindor tent that was set up.
Each team had a tent set up on all four sides of the pitch so the players could rest in between games and get ready in peace.
His team sat down in front of James as he stood there, silently. Lily was by the entrance, standing and when he didn't speak, she walked forward and took his hand, smiling encouragingly.
"The tournament will take place in three parts over the course of the day. Your first match against Ravenclaw, then your second match against Slytherin. There will be one hour breaks in between each game," she explained. "The other matches that will happen are Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw and Slytherin vs Hufflepuff. The third match is the victors pitted against each other."
"Let's kick some eagle and snake arse!" Nyah cheered from her seated position.
"I may be biased, but I will be rooting for Ravenclaw," Lily replied haughtily.
"Then why are you wearing red?" Nyah asked smugly.
Lily shrugged, but smiled, "red's my color."
Nyah smiled knowingly and hummed.
"Nyah?" Lily whispered desperately as James didn't speak, just staring at the floor, thinking.
"Alright, well I'm sure Potter is just saving his big speech for the last match. But as your co-captain for the year, I have some things I would like to say," Nyah announced as she stood on top of the player's bench. "It has been my honor to lead all of you into battle this year and to fight alongside you for the past 5 years. No matter the outcome of today, we are lions today and forever and what matters most is that we found each other and I wouldn't trade any of you for all of the Harpies offers in the world."
"Go Thomas!" Fred hollered as the team started to cheer.
"That's my baby!" Ryan exclaimed.
"You go girl!" Lily exclaimed as she stepped forward and enveloped the girl in a hug.
As the two sisters held each other, Lily could feel Nyah start to shake a little and her shoulder starting to get wet. Lily squeezed her a little bit tighter and rubbed her hand up and down Nyah's back.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Nyah sniffed as she pulled away and wiped away her tears. "I'm just going to miss all of you so much next year."
Tears started to slip down both Ryan and Fred's faces. All three of them huddled together and cried over the thought of having to grow up. Lily looked over at James just in time to see a tear slip down his own face.
She walked back over to him and led him over to the group of sobbing 7th years. After a good cry, they announced that they were going to name the new captain before their last match.
Gryffindor, obviously, won against Ravenclaw. With the determination of the graduating 18 year olds, they quickly overpowered the eagles ( slightly to Lily's disappointment as she loved James and Nyah, but she also had house pride! ).
James was in much better spirits after the win, completely ignoring his out-of-sortsness from the beginning of the day. The Gryffindors chanted in their tent after the match as Hufflepuff and Slytherin battled it out.
Ryan had smuggled in some fire whiskey, which James immediately took away. As much as he loved drinking and partying, he wasn't going to have hung over players. He promised a big party after, even if they didn't win where they could get absolutely shit-faced.
After effectively hiding the bottle, James and Nyah crouched over a table going over every quidditch play in existence as well as ones that Hufflepuff commonly used.
The badgers had become titans in the years after Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley graduated. Professor Sprout had revamped their quidditch team after the war and they started to win more and more. When James Sirius Potter entered, they had become the established champions ( Slytherin always in a close second ).
Teddy Lupin had always made sure to rub it in James's face a bit ( because even at 10 he had quite an ego! ), but that had changed when the wave of Weasleys entered.
But, no matter how talented their family was, it was always still a battle. The hour slipped away into a void of paper after paper and Nyah and James arguing over the best methods to beat the Hufflepuffs and soon enough, it was game time.
The stands were painted in yellow, black, red and gold. Fireworks were shot up at the long anticipated match, following the Slytherin victory. It was barely audible in the stands from people cheering at the top of their lungs for various members of each team.
James felt invincible, yet nervous as he kicked off from the ground. He searched the stands and winked at a fervently cheering Lily, sitting with Lorcan, Ruby ( who was, expectedly, cheering for Hufflepuff ), Estelle ( who also was ), Josie, Henry and Will.
He didn't know if she saw it or not, but he felt a swell of pride knowing she was cheering for him. Though, if he brought it up, she'd say it was all for Nyah.
In the midst of her cheering, Lily, somehow heard a cry. She tore her eyes away from the red tearing across the sky and saw a second year cradling their arm. She bit her lip, but eventually got up, she was Head Girl after all.
"I'll be right back," she yelled to Ruby, who looked confused, but upon seeing Lily's gesturing to the second year, nodded.
Lily pushed through the crowd and eventually found them.
"Hi there," she said kindly as she stood in front of the sobbing second year. "Would you like me to walk you to the hospital wing?"
The second year nodded through their tears and dripping nose. Lily carefully guided them through the crowd and to the stairs down from the pitch. She looked back one last time and saw James score. She smiled and the fuzzy feeling in her stomach returned from earlier.
But, she was snapped back to her reality by the second year's big sniff.
"What's your name?" Lily asked.
"Arabella," the second year sniffed. "But my friends call me Ara."
"Ok Ara," Lily said kindly. "If you don't mind me asking, what do you identify as?"
"I'm a...a girl," Arabella said through her tears.
"And where are your friends?" Lily asked gently as she helped Arabella down the stairs.
"They're over on the Hufflepuff side a...and I was trying to get to them, but one of the big 6th years shoved me," Arabella explained.
"Oh," Lily said quietly. "I see."
The further away from the crowds they got, the more fuzzy Lily's hearing got from having been so close to all of the screaming.
"I'm sorry you're missing the match — " Arabella apologized.
"It's alright," Lily soothed. "I'd rather know you're safe."
"You're dating James Potter, right?" Arabella asked. "He's a chaser for Gryffindor."
"He is," Lily affirmed. "Do you know him?"
"No," Arabella said with a sniff. "But everyone knows of him. He's only the fittest boy in school."
Lily laughed at her comment as they reached the grass and started to make their way to the school.
"You know," she said coyly. "I think I might have to agree."
"His hair is amazing!" Arabella exclaimed.
"And his eyes," Lily added. "They're slightly golden and remind me of hot cocoa."
"Really?" Arabella moaned. "Merlin, I wish I had any boy that looked like that in my year!"
"Patience," Lily tutted. "He didn't always look like that."
"Really?" Ara asked incredulously.
"Oh yeah," Lily laughed. "He was way shorter than me in 4th year and then he had a growth spurt. And he also learned how to take care of his hair."
"Oh," Arabella muttered.
"And Arabella?" Lily asked.
"Yes?" Ara asked.
"Never settle," she replied with a smirk. "Make them be better for you. Because as women, we make human beings, so that means — should you be attracted to them — you never settle for a man when they can do barely half the things you can."
"Oh," Arabella whispered. "But what about Hugo Weasley?"
"What about Hugo Weasley?" Lily asked curiously.
"I mean he's totally gorgeous," Arabella said. "But he's kind of stuck up."
"Then don't waste your time," Lily instructed. "There are plenty of gorgeous men out there."
"But all of them have shit personalities!" Arabella moaned. "You got so lucky! Yours is gorgeous and nice!"
"I did," Lily said with a smile. "And I promise you'll find someone too."
Just then, Arabella winced and cradled her arm.
"Oof," Lily muttered. "We better get going."
Back at the match, James Potter was on fire. He had to do well, not just for his own pride, but because Lily was watching. Sure, she'd seen his other games, but this had the potential to be the last one ( though he highly doubted it as they were currently leading and he could've sworn that he saw Rose catch her eye on the snitch ).
Every ounce of both cultivated and inherited talent was flexed in an effort to beat Hufflepuff. If they got through, Slytherin would be easy compared to them.
He looked over, in his epic joy, to see an empty spot where Lily was sitting. His eyes searched a little bit longer and he frowned. Maybe she'd gone to the bathroom or something.
He shook his head and got back in the zone, passing the quaffle to Fred and dodging a bludger. He'd learnt his lesson last time.
"And that's another goal for Gryffindor from Fred Weasley!" Ben announced on the microphone. "Looks like they might have it in the bag, folks!"
"The badgers may be finally conquered by the lions!" Lysander exclaimed next to Ben. "Say Bennie boy, will you be my date to the celebration?"
"Ly ly," Ben said in a higher voice. "You know me so well, but only if you sing me One Direction!"
"Never again," Lysander grumbled. "The things you do for your friends and their disgustingly perfect romances, am I right?"
James smiled and rolled his eyes at Lysander's comment and continued to play, looking over briefly to see if Lily had returned yet. She hadn't. It was nearing the end of the game. What the hell was she doing?
"Madame Podmore?" Lily asked as they had finally reached the hospital wing.
"Yes, dear?" Clarisse Podmore asked.
"Arabella here seems to have hurt her arm," Lily said as she pushed Arabella forward.
Madame Podmore rushed forward and cradled Arabella's arm in her hand.
"Poor thing," she tutted. "It looks like it's broken."
"Again?" Arabella asked.
"This happens often?" Lily asked, confused.
"You'd be surprised," Ara grumbled.
"Let me see what I can do, Ms. Edwards, if you could be so kind as to stay with Ms. Spotswood for me while I get a potion," Podmore requested.
Lily looked at the clock, swallowed thickly, but nodded. She was Head Girl and she'd be damned if a second year was left alone in the hospital wing with a broken arm.
The time that Podmore was in the potion room felt like years, but it was probably 15 minutes. Lily continued to make small talk with Arabella in an attempt to get her mind off of her painful arm.
"Here we go!" Madame Podmore announced as she rushed out with a potion in a green bottle. "This should do the trick!"
"Thank you so much, Madame Podmore," Lily said kindly.
"Yeah, thank you. To you too Lily," Arabella said with a grateful smile.
"Merlin, who's playing now?" Clarisse asked.
"It's Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin," Lily replied.
"Merlin, you've helped around here before. Could you administer this? I have to get beds ready for the players," Madame Podmore said frantically.
"I ... sure," Lily said, but Clarisse was already gone.
She checked the bottle, got out a small cup from the side table and measured out the correct amount of potion. She saw how much pain Arabella was in and summoned a bar of chocolate from the kitchens.
"Here we go," Lily said as she handed the cup to Arabella, who gagged.
"This smells like rotten egg," she moaned.
"Drink it quicker and it'll be over quicker," Lily suggested. "Or would you rather have a broken arm?"
"Fair enough," Arabella replied as she gulped and then dumped it down her throat.
She cringed as it went down and gagged once she had swallowed.
"And, just for extra measure as it fixes everything," Lily said kindly as she presented the chocolate to Arabella.
"Thank you so much!" Arabella exclaimed as she looked giddily at the chocolate in front of her.
"Of course," Lily replied. "Madame Podmore?"
"Yes, dear?" Clarisse responded from the other side of the hospital wing.
"I've administered the potion," Lily announced.
"You are an angel, dear," Podmore exclaimed. "I knew I didn't make a mistake in suggesting you for Head Girl!"
Lily's cheeks burned bright red as she nodded and smiled.
"Go back to the match!" Podmore exclaimed. "Have fun!"
"Thank you professor!" Lily called back.
She then looked down at Arabella, who was methodically breaking the chocolate into pieces.
"Would you like me to stay?" Lily asked kindly, but her body language suggested it was just a courtesy.
"No!" Arabella replied. "You've already helped so much and I'm already feeling better!"
"Alright," Lily said quickly. "I'll see you later!"
Lily quickly hurried out of the hospital wing and fast walked through the halls of the castle ( she was not wearing the right bra to run in ). She saw hoards of people heading back from the pitch. The match was over.
She felt guilty, but she wasn't about to leave someone in need. She was also training to be a healer for Merlin's sake!
She knew that James wouldn't be in their dorm, probably the Gryffindor common room, so she hurried over there. A huge crowd of people all dressed in red were walking in, so she blended right in ( not that she would need to, as someone would've given her the password ).
And, based on the cheering and chatting coming from the crowd, Gryffindor had won. By a lot.
"James, mate, I'm sure she had a good reason," she heard the voice of Fred coaxing, who she assumed to be, James.
"James!" Lily said breathlessly as she left the crowd.
He didn't turn around from his seated position on the couch. She made eye contact with Fred Weasley, who shot her a small smile, but turned back towards him.
"Now you're not talking to me?" she asked firmly.
"Are you fucking joking?" James yelled as he turned towards her.
"James, there are first years!" she scolded.
"So bloody what? They all know every curse word in the book!" James exclaimed.
"That's not the point," Lily chastised.
"You missed the match!" James exclaimed.
"I was there for the first part!" Lily defended.
"But then you weren't," James growled. "Where were you?"
"A second year got hurt and I took her to the hospital wing," Lily revealed.
"So you chose a second year over me?" James asked, pissed off.
"I'm Head Girl, James," Lily exclaimed. "It's a part of the job!"
"To fuck with the job description!" James exclaimed. "I'm your boyfriend and this was an important match!"
The entire common room didn't know what to do with themselves. James and Lily had never fought like this, let alone publicly. Fred and Lorcan sat awkwardly on the couch and it was kind of hard not to listen considering James was yelling, but they kept trying to keep busy, not wanting to incur his wrath.
"How was I supposed to know that?" Lily exclaimed. "You didn't tell me!"
"Everyone knows!" James yelled. "Hufflepuff is the best team!"
"News flash, James," Lily yelled. "Not everyone is stuck in your little quidditch world! I'm sorry that-"
"And I played brilliantly!" he exclaimed, interrupting her. "For you. And you weren't even there!"
"I'm sorry that I missed it, but I wasn't going to let a 12 year old suffer in the stands!" Lily exclaimed. "If my title as Head Girl doesn't mean anything to you, then maybe my lifelong dream of being a healer will!"
"So what you're saying is that you chose a 12 year old over me?" James yelled. "Are you being serious right now?"
"No, that's your middle name," Lily replied, not missing a beat.
The common room went deadly silent.
"James?" Fred said meekly. "I give you my blessing to propose to her."