James looked around the common room, and saw Sirius sitting by himself in a corner. He still looked like he was brooding, even though it had been twenty-four hours since the Sorting. And Remus had nominated James to talk him out of his mood.
James could think of about forty things he'd rather be doing. First and foremost in his mind was practicing for the Quidditch tryouts. He had already given his name to Derek Brown, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, and been informed of the day and time of the tryouts. He could hardly wait to start practicing.
As James stood in the middle of the common room, trying to decide what to say to Sirius, he saw Olivia walk toward the portrait hole with her broom in hand. She must be trying out, he thought. He looked her up and down, trying to see if she would be a difficult person to beat. Oh, why couldn't he be out practicing too? Why had Remus left him with this impossible task?
As Olivia left the room, James sighed, straightened his shoulders, and marched over to his friend. It was now or never.
"Sirius? Can we talk?"
"What about?" Sirius snapped.
James was a bit taken aback, but tried not to let it show. "About you, you prat."
Now it was Sirius' turn to be surprised. He looked at James with rounded eyes. "What did you just say?"
"I said you're being a prat." James had no idea where any of this was coming from, but he could see that he had Sirius' attention. He decided to run with it. "Remus tried his best to talk to you yesterday, and you practically bit his head off. Peter's scared to be alone in the same room with you. You're acting like a spoiled child who didn't get the toy he wanted for Christmas."
Sirius' eyes narrowed into a scowl. "You don't know what it's like!" he spat. "You don't have a brother who was just Sorted into Slytherin! You have no idea what being a member of my family is like!"
"No, I don't," James said calmly. "But if you want to tell me, I'll do my best to understand."
"It's nothing I haven't told you before."
"Maybe I'm more ready to hear it now."
Sirius shook his head. "I don't know what to tell you, James. My family is evil. That's all there is to it."
James shook his own head. "That's not entirely true, Sirius. You're not evil. Andromeda's not evil."
"Yeah, she's all right," he replied. He was silent for a moment, considering what James had said. "Andromeda's in Slytherin, too. I guess she'll look after Regulus, right?"
"I'm sure she will. She's been in Slytherin for six years already, and she hasn't turned into some Dark Arts freak like Snape."
"That's true." He sighed. "I'll have to talk to her, and see how Regulus is doing."
"Yeah."
Sirius ran his hand through his hair. Unlike James', his hair fell back into place. "I'm still not okay with this, James. I still don't want him to be in Slytherin."
"I know. So do the other guys. We just don't want you turning into a lunatic who spends all his time raging against the Sorting Hat."
Sirius smiled. "I guess I did overreact a bit, didn't I?"
"Oh, I'd say more than a bit," James grinned. "A LOT more than a bit."
Sirius punched his arm. "Prat."
"Takes one to know one." James returned the punch.
Sirius punched him again. "James?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Anytime."
***
With Sirius back to his normal self, James, Remus, and Peter were able to breathe again. They fell back into their patterns of the previous year, with James and Sirius only doing as much work as was absolutely necessary, but still managing to achieve top marks. Along with Remus, they found themselves helping Peter almost every night again. Peter was grateful for their help, knowing that he would never have made it through his classes without them.
James spent every spare minute on the Quidditch pitch, trying to get himself in shape for tryouts. He had seen Olivia flying on more than one occasion, and was convinced that she would be the one to beat. He was amazed by her skill.
"Honestly, you guys should see this girl fly!" he exclaimed.
Sirius grinned. "Have you moved on from Lily to Olivia?"
James smiled. "Never. Lily's still the cutest girl at Hogwarts."
"Who still won't give you the time of day," Remus laughed.
"Ouch, Remus," James laughed. "That was a bit harsh."
"Hey, the truth hurts," Remus replied with a grin.
"So it does. But this year will be different. She'll notice me, and fall in love with me."
"And how do you intend to bring about this miracle?" Peter asked.
"I haven't figured that part out yet," James admitted.
Sirius laughed again. "You're hopeless, Potter."
Olivia and Dana walked past, smiling at Sirius and James. Remus started laughing again.
"Well, it looks as though you two may have found yourselves a couple of girlfriends."
Sirius grinned. "So you say Olivia can fly?" he asked, watching her walk across the room. "I like an athletic girl."
James laughed. "She's all yours, mate."
"You want Dana, then?"
"I want Lily."
Remus and Sirius reached out at the same time to hit him across the back of the head.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"For being a prat," Sirius said.
"Honestly, James, you're really being a moron about this," Remus added. "I mean, Lily doesn't want anything to do with you! Why not move on?"
"I love her," James said simply.
Remus gave him a look of dispair. "You've never even spent two minutes alone with her."
"It doesn't matter. I love her."
Remus looked to Sirius. "Help, please?"
Sirius shrugged. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again. He's hopeless."
***
"Sirius! Hey, Sirius!"
James and Sirius, who had been walking down the hall to meet Remus and Peter in the library, stopped. Regulus was running toward them.
"Hi, Regulus," Sirius smiled. "How's everything going?"
"Great!" Regulus exclaimed. "You won't believe all the friends I've made already!"
"I'm sure I wouldn't believe it," Sirius said, his eyes narrowing slightly. "How are your classes?"
"Good, I guess. I don't think Professor McGonagall likes me, though."
"What did you do to her?" James asked with a grin.
"I don't know! I mean, all I did was ask question, and she took ten points from Slytherin!"
"What did you ask?" Sirius asked, trying not to laugh.
"I don't even remember."
"It must have been something crazy to upset her enough to take off ten points," James said.
"Well, maybe I asked a few questions . . . But she still didn't need to take all those points away!"
Sirius was now practically shaking with silent laughter. He had known all along that Regulus would make McGonagall insane. Regulus gave him a reproachful look.
"It's not funny!"
"Sorry," Sirius managed to gasp out.
"So what else is going on?" James asked, trying to keep the conversation going while Sirius collected himself.
"Slytherin needs a new Chaser," Regulus said. "I wish I could try out."
"You can next year."
"Nah. The oldest current player is a fifth year. It's going to be awhile before I can try out."
"Still, though, you can start training now. Then, by the time you can try out, you'll blow them all away."
Regulus smiled. "That's a good idea, James! Will you both help me?"
"Er - we'll try," Sirius said. "Who's trying out for the team?"
"A bunch of people. The only one I actually know is Severus Snape."
James' eyes narrowed. "Snape's trying out?"
"Yeah, he said he's really good."
"That remains to be seen," Sirius laughed.
"Severus is all right," Regulus defended.
"I suppose." Sirius was noncommittal. He couldn't bring himself to praise Snape, but the last thing he needed was Regulus telling the git that he had made disparaging remarks about him.
"Where are you guys going?" Regulus asked.
"To the library," Sirius said. "We're going to meet up with Remus and Peter."
"Cool! Can I come?"
"You want to come?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Why?"
"So I can hang out with you guys."
"We're just going to be studying."
"So I can't come?" He looked thoroughly dejected.
"You can come," James said hastily. "Do you have some homework with you?"
"Yes," Regulus said, perking up again. "Let's go!" He started down the hall.
"Why did you do that?" Sirius hissed.
"You're the one who's been going on about him falling in with the Slytherins," James hissed back. "He's already friends with Snivellus! We should want him to hang out with us, so he's not spending time with them!"
"Andromeda promised to watch out for him. She'll make sure he's all right."
"You should watch out for him, too."
He sighed. "Well, the amount of questions that boy can ask will try even Remus' patience. You wait and see."
James smiled.
"Are you guys coming?"
"Yeah, we're right behind you!" James turned to Sirius. "Come on. He's your brother, mate. It won't kill you to spend some time with him."
Sirius sighed again. "Coming."
***
The day of the Quidditch tryouts dawned with sunny, cloudless skies. James was awake as the sun came over the horizon, too nervous to sleep. He opened the curtains, letting in the sunshine and looking out at the bright day.
"What are you doing?" Sirius moaned. He pulled the hangings around his bed closed, trying to fall back asleep.
James realized that the dormitory was not the best place to be - his roommates were obviously not too excited about being awake at dawn. He dressed, and went down to the common room. He could be nervous there as well as he could in the dormitory.
Olivia was already in the common room when James arrived. She was sitting on a chair by the fireplace, curled into a ball.
"You all right?" James asked, sitting down next to her.
Olivia jumped, and uncurled her body. "What are you doing here?"
"Probably the same thing as you. I was too nervous to sleep."
Olivia nodded. "I didn't want to keep the other girls awake, so I came down here."
"Yeah, me too." James reached up to ruffle his hair. "You're going to do fine, you know. You fly really well."
"Thanks," Olivia said, flushing. "So do you. What kind of broomstick are you using?"
"A Cleansweep 3," James said proudly. "You?"
"I still have a Cleansweep 2," Olivia sighed. "I wish I could get a 3. Are they really as great as everyone says?"
"They're amazing!" James exclaimed. "It's definitely better than my 2 was."
"Oh, I'm asking for one for Christmas," Olivia grinned.
"You can try mine out, if you want," James offered. "Just so you'll know if you really want one or not."
"Seriously? You'd let me do that? That's really nice of you, James."
James grinned. "No problem."
Olivia smiled. "Maybe I can fly it after we finish practice one day."
"Oh, so we're both going to make the team, are we?"
"Well, they need two Chasers, don't they? And we're two people who can fly really well - why wouldn't we both make the team?"
"Yeah, you're right," James smiled. "Why wouldn't we?"
"I'm still nervous, though," Olivia confessed.
"Me, too."
"I've wanted to do this forever," she said. "My oldest brother was a Chaser. He loved playing on the Gryffindor team. When he graduated, I was so sure that I could take his place."
"But you're not sure anymore?"
"There's a lot of people trying out, James. And we're just second years. Don't you think that will count against us?"
"Not if we're better than everyone else. I've seen you fly, Olivia. I really don't think you need to worry."
"Thanks," she said softly. Where was this sweet boy coming from? This was James Potter, the lazy, fun-loving, bad boy of Gryffindor. He wasn't sweet like this - was he?
"Who's your favorite Quidditch team?" James asked.
Olivia was caught off-guard, and paused a moment before answering. "The Chudley Cannons," she finally said.
"Ugh, why?" James groaned. "They're awful!"
"They're just having a bad season!" Olivia defended.
"Yeah, for something like the last two centuries!"
"Oh, get real, Potter. They're a great team!"
"Unless you want to support a winning team."
"Winning isn't everything, you know. They're special because they try really hard, and they don't let a few losing seasons get them down."
James shook his head. "Well, at least they have loyal fans."
Olivia laughed. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment."
Students began to come down the stairs, calling good morning on their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. James watched them for a moment, then turned to Olivia.
"I guess it's officially morning now," he said.
"Yeah, I guess so," she replied. "We aren't the only freaks awake anymore."
James grinned. "We're not freaks - we're just nervous."
Lily, Dana, and Kathleen came down the girls' staircase. They looked around for a moment, then saw Olivia and James sitting together.
"Liv, do you want to come with us for breakfast?" Dana asked.
"Yeah, sure," Olivia replied, standing. "Do you want to join us, James?"
Because she was facing James, she didn't see the daggers Lily was shooting her with her eyes. James noticed, but refused to let himself comment.
"No, thanks. I'll just wait for the guys."
"All right. I'll see you later at tryouts, then."
The other girls began to walk away, obviously assuming that Olivia was right behind them. She paused for a moment before following them.
"Thanks, James, for talking to me," she said quietly.
"Thank you, too," James replied. "I'm glad we got to talk."
"Me, too."
"See you later, then."
"Yeah."
Olivia walked away, hurrying to catch up with her friends. She touched Lily's shoulder, and the redhead turned to speak with her. James sighed. Why couldn't Lily just talk to him like Olivia? Olivia didn't treat him like a pest to be avoided. Maybe Remus and Sirius were right. Maybe it was time to move on.
If only it were that easy. He shook his head as the sound of Lily's laughter drifted over to him. He knew he couldn't forget about her. He had to make her like him. But how?
"So you mean to tell me you spent the entire morning with James Potter?" Dana demanded as soon as they had left the common room behind.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Olivia replied.
"Did he try to hex you?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Oh, come on, Lils," Olivia sighed. "I don't think he really even knows any hexes. Don't you remember that time last year when Severus Snape hexed the living daylights out of him and Sirius and Remus?"
"That's a special case," Lily replied. "Severus Snape knows more hexes than anyone alive."
"You're probably right on that one," Dana said grimly. "He really isn't the friendliest of people, is he?"
"Anyway, to get back to Dana's insinuations, James and I just talked," Olivia said.
"About what?" Lily asked before she could stop herself. She couldn't help it; she was interested in the type of conversation one would have with James Potter.
"Quidditch, mostly," Olivia replied. "We're both trying out for the team." She looked straight at Lily. "He was really nice to me. I think he really is a sweet guy."
"If you think arrogance is sweet," Lily said sarcastically.
"No, seriously, I think that the arrogance is a front for something. Maybe he's afraid of getting hurt."
"James Potter is a lot of things, but I don't think 'afraid' is one of them," Lily said.
Olivia sighed, realizing nothing she could say would change Lily's mind. "Come on, let's get to the Hall. I want to make an attempt at eating."
"You need to eat," Lily said at once, her voice concerned. "You'll need the energy for the tryouts. Besides, if you don't eat, you'll be hungry, and that's the only thing you'll be able to think about. It'll be terrible for your tryout."
"Okay, I get the point!" Olivia laughed, holding up her hands. "Stop, Mum, please! I'll eat, I promise!"
Lily laughed. "Glad I made my point."
***
"Right, I want everyone who's trying out to come over here."
James and Olivia looked at each other nervously, and moved to the place where Derek Brown was standing. Both of them were clutching their broomsticks tightly.
"Can everyone hear me?"
A murmur of assent went through the group. Eight people had shown up for the tryout.
"Good. Well, as I'm sure you know, we have two open positions for Chasers. This is Maggie Johnson, our lead Chaser. She's going to be a large part of the selection process, since our Chasers will be working very closely with her. We do want two people who will work well together, with Maggie, and with the rest of the team."
James looked at Maggie Johnson, who he knew was a fifth year. She was very tall, especially compared to him and Olivia. He looked around at the other candidates. They seemed tall, too. He and Olivia were the only second years trying out. Maybe Olivia was right - would that hurt they were so young?
James glanced around at the other members of the team. Derek, who was a Beater, was the only seventh year on the team. Adam and Minnie, the sixth year Gryffindor prefects, were both on the team as well. Adam was the second Beater, and Minnie was the Keeper. They both smiled encouragingly at James and Olivia. The final team member, aside from Maggie, was Eric Smythe, a fourth year, who was the Seeker. James felt even more nervous. They were all so old. And so very tall.
"Right, let's get started," Derek said. "We're going to run you through some drills first, then we'll put you in to fly with the team."
They began with Quaffle handling drills. James was proud that neither he nor Olivia dropped the Quaffle. That was something none of the other candidates could say. Derek made them toss and catch the Quaffle while stationary, while flying straight lines, while flying formations, while others were flying around them, and while the Beaters were hitting Bludgers at them. Maggie watched all the candidates with narrowed eyes. She was difficult to please, and seemed to know exactly what she was looking for. The pressure was incredible - and exhausting.
Finally, Derek blew his whistle. He motioned them all to the ground.
"All right, that was great. Now, we're going to ask you to fly with the team in pairs."
He divided the candidates up into pairs, and told them when they would fly. James and Olivia were together, and would fly last.
"I don't like this at all," Olivia muttered as the first pair mounted their broomsticks. "I don't want to be last."
"Me, either," James admitted. "I don't want to have to watch everyone else."
The words had just left his mouth when one of the candidates flew into the other, nearly knocking both of them off their broomsticks. James and Olivia looked at one another with open mouths.
"Then again, maybe it won't be so bad to watch," Olivia smiled.
Their turn came at last. Derek whistled for them to start. They exchanged a last smile, then kicked off.
It was obvious to James, Olivia, and the rest of the team within seconds that James and Olivia worked well together. Their flying styles complimented one another perfectly, and they fit in with the rest of the team very well. As their tryout ended, even Maggie was smiling at them.
"Great," Derek said as he landed behind James and Olivia. "You all did really well. We're going to have a team meeting tonight to make our final decisions, and we'll post the results tomorrow. Thanks for coming out, everyone."
James and Olivia walked back up to the castle together with the rest of the students who had tried out.
"Well?" Olivia asked. "What did you think?"
"I think we did well," James said honestly. "But I don't know if it was enough."
Olivia nodded. "Maggie was pretty tough to please, wasn't she?"
"Definitely." James shrugged. "I guess we'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out."
"I guess so."
***
The next morning, James descended the staircase from the boys' dormitories with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. He was just as nervous as he had been yesterday, but had managed to stay in bed until his friends were ready to go downstairs for breakfast. Because it was Sunday that was later than usual, much to James' annoyance.
"Don't worry, mate," Sirius said cheerfully as they walked into the common room. "I'm sure you made it."
"Yeah," James said weakly.
As soon as they entered the common room, a shriek could be heard from across it. James looked for the source, and saw Olivia jumping up and down, trying to hug Lily, Dana, and Kathleen at the same time.
"I guess she made it," he said. "I knew she would. Olivia's really good."
"Well, there were two positions," Remus said. "Don't count yourself out yet."
"Come on, let's hurry," Peter said, looking almost as nervous as James. "I can't take the suspense."
James smiled, and crossed the room to the bulletin board. The Quidditch notice was prominently displayed in the middle of the board. James began to read aloud.
"'Thanks again to everyone who tried out. The new team members MUST attend a team meeting tonight at 7 pm in Professor McGonagall's classroom. Congratulations.
"'Chaser: Olivia Alexander
"'Chaser: James Potter'"
"Brilliant!" Sirius exclaimed, clapping James' back. "I knew you'd make it!"
"Congratulations, James!" Remus exclaimed, gripping his shoulder. "This is incredible!"
"Way to go, James!" Peter cried, bouncing up and down.
James turned from his friends with a beaming smile to look at Olivia. She was watching him, her own face shining.
"Hey, guys, wait for me a moment," James said. He left his friends, and walked over to Olivia.
"Congratulations," she said.
"You, too," James replied. "I told you we'd make it."
"And you were right," she smiled. "I guess I'll see you for the meeting tonight."
"Yeah, I'll see you then." James gave her one last grin, and looked over at Lily. She was watching him closely, as though waiting to see what he'd do to her friend. He winked at her, causing her to blush a deep red, then returned to his friends.
"Excited about working with Olivia?" Sirius asked.
"We fly well together," James replied. He looked back at Lily, whose narrowed eyes were currently directed at him. "Lily's pretty when she's angry, isn't she?"
Sirius laughed. "Hopeless."