"Let's go," James said, getting onto his broom.
Lily followed suit, watching the curtain draw itself back. The crowd went wild as the Gryffindor Quidditch Team flew into the sunlit pitch as the announcer called them by name. James and Damien led the way as the team circled the stadium. From her broom, she caught sight of her friends, all giving her hopeful smiles. While they gave her a slight bit of confidence, her nerves still ran rampant through her body as she made her descent to the grassy pitch.
"Where's your final Chaser?" Master Lang asked when the Gryffindors had landed across from where the Ravenclaws stood in a semi-circle.
"He's ineligible for gameplay today, so we will be playing with two Chasers, Master Lang," James said, his voice stern. "We understand the disadvantages and don't wish to receive any sort of handicap."
Master Lang looked surprised, but he turned to Lily and Annie, "Are your two Chasers alright with playing with a man out?"
"Perfectly fine," Annie said, crossing her arms and looking Lily's way.
With everyone's eyes on her, Lily tried to wipe away the nerves from her face and turn her expression into one of sheer determination, "I'm fine with it. Let's play."
Master Lang narrowed his eyes at Lily before turning the Ravenclaw captain, "Are you willing to allow them to play short a player?"
The captain, a seventh year, who Lily felt some animosity toward because of his refusing Cassie a tryout, shrugged, "Easier for us to win. Like Potter said, let's play."
"Positions please," Master Lang said, blowing a whistle.
The Gryffindor Team moved into their formation. Lily stood in the front beside Annie while James stood behind them. Jake, Damien, and Bobby stood in the last row.
"Are both teams ready?" Master Lang asked.
"Ready," the Ravenclaw captain said.
"Ready," James said from behind Lily.
Master Lang knelt to the grass and unlatched the box, yelling "GO!"
The Bludgers and Snitch zoomed into the air while the Quaffle flew upward, released from the pressure of the box. Not waiting a second, Lily zoomed forward and grabbed the Quaffle out of the air, flying beneath a Ravenclaw Chaser who had gone for it as well.
Lily took to the sky, pulling upward quickly and dodging a Bludger, which had gone for her legs, in the process. Unsure of what play to run with Annie, as all of their plays had been set up for three Chasers, Lily followed an assuring nod from Annie who flew beside her. While she wasn't sure of what Annie planned on doing, Lily knew she had to follow her senior's lead.
Two Ravenclaw Chasers were hot on her tail, but Lily kept following Annie's lead before passing the Quaffle to her. Lily pulled up and raced toward the goals, away from the Chasers, motioning for Annie to pass the Quaffle her way for a goal. Annie, not looking Lily's way, refused and took the shot, missing it.
Lily groaned at the missed attempt for points, but she didn't have much time to think about it as she had to whiz after a Ravenclaw Chaser while dodging a Bludger hit by Lorcan Lovegood. Pulling her body tightly to the broom, Lily flew her fastest after him, snagging the Quaffle from the air when he threw it toward Damien and the Gryffindor goal. Lily smiled when she heard the Gryffindors cheer for her nice play.
"Toss it here, Lil!" Annie yelled from below her.
Listening to the sixth year, she flew away from her own Keeper and dropped the Quaffle down to Annie, allowing Annie to go for another goal, which she missed. Again.
The Ravenclaw Keeper tossed the Quaffle far above Lily's head, and though she raced upward to intercept it, she wasn't fast enough, missing it by inches. A Ravenclaw Chaser a few meters away caught it and managed to score before Lily could even catch up with him.
Damien tossed the Quaffle Lily's way, but Annie flew in front of Lily and intercepted it. Grinding her teeth at her teammate stealing the Quaffle, Lily flew after her, still needing to offer some sort of support to her teammate. Lily, free of opposition from the Ravenclaws, called for the Quaffle, but Annie didn't listen and took her third shot of the game. Missing it. Yet again.
Minutes passed, and Gryffindor wasn't making any progress in the points department. They were down by nine goals, and Lily prayed for James to find the Snitch to end this. As the game progressed, Lily couldn't help but notice a pattern to their failure: Annie called or stole the Quaffle from Lily only to take a shot and miss it, followed by the Ravenclaws getting possession of it and scoring. Lily kept trying to tell herself that her experienced teammate probably knew much more about Quidditch, but the ball hogging was getting a little irritating. Though it bothered her, Lily kept letting the pattern repeat itself, fearful of upsetting Annie.
"LIL!" someone yelled behind her.
Lily whipped her head around to see a huge Bludger flying her way at top speed. Knowing she didn't have time to get out of the way, she braced to take the hit, but someone zoomed in front of her and smacked it away.
"I told you I'd keep them away!" Bobby said, flying beside her now with his bat in hand. "Now, let's go get some points."
"What should we do?" Lily asked as the pair flew after a Ravenclaw Chaser who had the Quaffle.
"Just go for it, and I'll cover you the entire way," he said with a nod, swatting a Bludger away toward a Ravenclaw Chaser, who was nearing them.
Listening to Bobby, Lily weaved in and out of the Ravenclaw Chasers, who flew toward Damien at the goal posts, without a fear of Bludgers. The Quaffle zoomed toward Damien, who knocked it back into play with the back of his broomstick. Thinking of Bobby's advice, fearlessly, Lily flew upward, grabbing the Quaffle before anyone else had the chance.
"LILY! HERE!" Annie yelled.
While she didn't want to upset Annie, Lily knew she had to do whatever she needed to do to win for Gryffindor, even if that meant ignoring the other Chaser. Feinting moves as she made her way across the pitch, Lily flew with Bobby on her tail, who knocked away Bludgers toward the approaching Ravenclaw Chasers.
Once she was in throwing distance, she charged the goal at full speed, sending the Quaffle hurtling through the hoop.
"TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR COURTESTY OF LILY POTTER!" the announcer shouted, his voice heard all over the field.
The Ravenclaw fans booed, but all that mattered to Lily was the applause of the Gryffindor supporters; she had pleased her house.
"Nice, Lil!" Bobby shouted, raising his Beater's bat to her in approval.
The Ravenclaw Keeper, holding the Quaffle in his hands, inspected the open sky before tossing the ball. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake twice, Lily, completely ready this time, hurtled upward on her broom and grabbed the Quaffle by the tips of her fingers before thrusting it back at the Keeper, resulting in a second goal for Gryffindor.
"TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" the announcer repeated.
The crowd's cycle repeated as well, except the cheering Gryffindors were even louder as right after the announcement of Lily's second goal, the announcer yelled, "JAMES POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!"
Relief flooded through Lily's body. The game was over. Her first Quidditch game was over. After all of the chaos leading up to it, the game was over, and Gryffindor had pocketed a win. Though the win was mostly on James's part, Lily was still proud of the two goals she had scored for her team.
Master Lang blew his whistle and beckoned the teams down to the grass of the pitch. As Lily descended, she caught sight of James who shook his head at her and mouthed for her to talk to him after Master Lang's words.
"Fair game," Master Lang said once both teams had landed with their feet on the ground. "Shake hands."
Lily went through the line of Ravenclaws, shaking each of their hands before following the rest of her team off to the locker room.
The atmosphere of the locker room was completely different from the electric one of the stands after Gryffindor had been declared victorious. No one spoke in the locker room as everyone quickly took of their gear and headed out the door.
Lily and James were the final two people in the locker room once Damien and Bobby had left to give the siblings privacy.
"Can I ask why you wouldn't stop passing to Annie through the whole game?"
Lily was surprised by this question but decided to answer it truthfully, "She's been on this team longer than I have. She's nearly seventeen, and I'm just twelve."
"With a whole lot more skill than her," James commented, standing up from his spot on the bench and moving over to Lily. "Did you see what happened when you stopped listening to her?"
"I know; I scored twice, but I didn't want to not listen to her. I thought-"
"Lil," James began, "as good as Annie is, she turned out to be a bit of a ball hog today, and I don't know why. Vic didn't stand for that type of stuff last year."
"James, she was probably just angry about what happened before the match," Lily said. "We all were a bit wound up."
"Don't listen to Annie when you're out on the pitch," James said, standing up. "You proved a better Chaser today."
"It wasn't just me; Bobby suggested the whole thing," Lily said.
"Who do you think suggested it to Bobby?" James asked, cocking his head to the side. "Longbottom didn't make me captain for nothing. Now, go ahead. Your friends are probably waiting for you."
Lily gathered her things and was near the door when James spoke again, "You're a really good Chaser, Lil."
Happy with her brother's praise, she turned around before walking out the door, "You're not so bad yourself, James. A Seeker or a brother."
-+-
This one was supposed to be longer, but I really like where I stopped, so here we are. Wow, that was a run-on sentence. Oh well! There are no rules here! Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time as always. Don't be afraid to vote, comment, or share!
By the way, I'm working on another oneshot! It's entitled "One Week Later", and it's about a post-war George Weasley. That's all I'll tell you about for now! Be on the lookout for it!!
Thanks again!!!
-aquaseahorse