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A Tie on the Pitch


The night before the first Quidditch game of the season, Derek Bell had called everyone down to the common room for a pep talk. They sat ‘round the fire, the whole house of Gryffindor, and Derek stood up on the little coffee table and looked ‘round at the team members. “Tomorrow, we face off against Hufflepuff,” he said, “Now, Hufflepuff historically doesn’t have the best team, but they’ve got a couple of new Beaters that are rumored to be particularly good, so that means you two - Weasley, Longbottom - you’ll have your work cut out for you keeping our chasers on their brooms. Lily, in practice, you’ve been a bit flighty about the bludgers. Be sure to keep out watch on them tomorrow - we don’t need anybody falling off their brooms and getting injured tomorrow. Potter, you, too.” Derek paced a moment, and took a deep breath. “I just know this team can win, alright, you lot? I know we can. I worked hard curating you all, and I want to include a majority of you on the All Star team for the match against Ilvermorny. But you’ve got to be spiffing during the season if I’m going to do that, so let’s show Hogwarts who their Quidditch champions are! Let’s rock that pitch tomorrow like they’ve never seen before!”

“Here, here!” shouted Bilius, raising a bottle of butterbeer, which Peter had knicked from the kitchens for the occasion of the pep rally. The entire house clapped at the words.

Derek turned, jumping down off the little table, and magicked a box onto it. It was a rather large box, and he opened it up and pulled out Lily and James’s official game uniforms, their names sewn into the back over their numbers. “Wow,” James murmured, running his palm over the letters - POTTER. He’d waited his whole life to see that jersey. He remembered the one that Charlus had from his own days playing on the team and he unfurled the jumper a bit to see the number. He was number 28. His dad had been 16.

Lily was inspecting hers, too. EVANS, 5. She beamed down at the gold letters happily.

When Derek had finished handing out their uniforms, he cleared his throat and sent the players to bed, saying it was important that they all get a good night’s sleep as they would need their energy for the game next day. He stayed in the common room himself only long enough to shoo the other players off.

In the dorm, James quickly forgot the task of going to sleep and wriggled the Quidditch jumper on over his head. The sleeves were miles too long and the whole thing was a bit too loose. He shook his hands out of the ends of the sleeves and nervously looked at himself in the mirror, frowning. “It’s too big,” he complained.

Sirius snickered. “You’re going to have a hard go of it if you can’t catch the quaffle. Look at you.”

“What’s the spell to cut fabric? I need to cut these down,” James asked, sounding borderline hysterical.

“Don’t cut it,” Remus said, “That’ll look awful.” He came ‘round the end of the beds and took out his wand and tapped the sleeves of the jumper. “Diminuendo,” he commanded. The whole jumper shrunk just a bit - just until it was snug as it should be. “There you are.”

James beamed, “I swear, Remus, you really are a genius.”

Remus shrugged, “Just a simple shrinking charm, not a big deal at all.”

Next morning, James was nervous and could barely eat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Biliius however kept shoving eggs onto him and Lily and insisting that they eat them. “Protien helps with the playing!” he persisted.

James looked about. “Where’s Derek?” he asked, noticing the captain of the team was missing.

“Dunno,” Bilius replied. “Reckon he’s probably gotten up early to head down to the pitch ahead of us or something. He was already gone when Alex and I got up this morning.”

“Oh,” James said. He thought that sounded rather odd, what could Derek possibly have to do that would take that long down by the Quidditch pitch, he wondered? But he had more pressing matters to ponder as BIlius loaded up his plate with even more eggs and James groaned, clutching his stomach in protest. “If I eat even one more bite of egg, I’m going to burst!”

Lily mumbled, “I’ve been full since the second one.”

There was a fine mist hovering over the grounds of the castle as the Gryffindor Quidditch team made their way out to the pitch a bit early for the game. James and Lily followed the veteran players into the Gryffindor locker room. They’d been expecting to find Derek there, but he was nowhere to be seen. James turned to BIlius, “Oi, I thought Derek was out here?” he asked.

Bilius shrugged, “Dunno where he is, then, mate, i thought he was out here, too.” He didn’t seem interested in discussing it, though, he was too busy polishing his beater’s bat with a smelly liquid.

James sat on one of the long benches, double-knotting up his laces on his trainers. He looked over at Lily, who was braiding her hair carefully. He watched her fingers twist through the bright red strands for a long moment before she caught his eyes. “What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied, averting his eyes quickly to focus back on his task.

Bilius had finished polishing his bat and was now rubbing it down with a sort of sandpaper. Frank Longbottom was doing the same a little ways away. The energy in the locker room was intense, like a bubbling anticipation that almost ached it was so thick and heavy. But it was slowly turning into anxiety as the sounds of the stands filling up with spectators echoed down through the locker room and they realized the game was getting closer and closer and they still hadn’t seen Derek Bell.

“What do we do if he doesn’t show up?” James heard Alex Tinnamin whisper nervously to Bilius, “We’ll be short a Chaser.”

“Dunno,” whispered Bilius, “He swore he’d be back before the game.”

James realized then that Bilius knew a lot more about Derek Bell’s whereabouts than he was letting on and he inched a bit closer, trying to be inconspicuous, using the little pitcher of water and nearby cups for an excuse why he was hovering the way he was, listening in on their whispered conversation.

“I told him it wasn’t a good idea,” Bilius was continuing. “But I swear he’s addicted.”

Alex sighed, “Ruddy git he is.”

Bilius shrugged. “I think it helps him is all, hes still going through so much - what with his parents dying and then his sister, too - I can’t imagine. He’s the only one left in his family.”

“Yeah, but --” Alex grunted. He didn’t know how to cordially finish the sentence. He couldn’t very well say that Quidditch was more important than Derek’s mourning.

“He’ll get here,” Bilius said, though he sounded less sure than he’d probably meant to.

Bilius was right, of course, Derek did show up, but only just in time. He was still tugging on his jumper as they walked out onto the field at Madam Hooch’s whistle and he scrambled to take his broom from Alex, who had carried it out onto the pitch for him. He ducked to the front of the little crowd of Gryffindor players to walk to the center of the field and shake hands with the Hufflepuff team captain.

“Good luck,” he offered.

“You, too,” answered the Hufflepuff captain.

The game began soon after, and in the stands Sirius, Remus, and Peter held up a little sign that they’d made, reading POTTER’S #1! on it. They jumped and clapped as James soared through the air, passing the quaffle and dodging bludgers.

Derek had been right about the Hufflepuff beaters, they were very good and the bludgers were flying extra hard about the field. Lily found herself having to dodge them so often, she couldn’t get near to the rings to put the quaffle through to score because she kept having to somersault out of the way of the bludgers. She passed the quaffle to James, who had scored several times as a result. He was so quick and zippy on a broom that he seemed to have less trouble avoiding the path of the bludgers than the others did. Bilius and Frank had to cover Lily pretty close as the beaters seemed to be aiming for her - news had traveled about the castle about Lily’s skills, and her small stature made her a bit of a target anyway. Besides, the third Gryffindor chaser, Derek Bell, seemed distracted as he flew about and he managed to fumble the quaffle a couple times and he was the first to be struck by a bludger, too. Despite all that, the score was deeply skewed in Gryffindor’s favor, and the Seekers were looking a bit nervous hovering over the pitch way up there, watching and waiting for the snitch to make itself seen. Either seeker capturing the ball could win the match while Gryffindor was not quite 150 up on Hufflepuff, and there was a lot of pressure. Tinnamin held onto his broom, scanning the grass for a hint of gold, his palms sweating against the stock of his broomstick.

Lily and James were certainly proving themselves quite well as Chasers. The onlookers in the stands surrounding the pitch were commenting on the fact that the two second year chasers were doing better on the Gryffindor team than the seventh year Captain was. Remus overheard Professor Blythe give one boy a very dirty look for shouting that comment loudly as Derek Bell swooped past them at one point, and he turned to look at Sirius, “Blimey, Professor Blythe takes her Quidditch seriously.”

Sirius nodded.

“Well it’s true, isn’t it?” Peter squeaked.

“Yeah, it is,” Sirius said, nodding, though quietly enough that Professor Blythe wouldn’t hear.

Derek called a time-out when the team was up by one hundred and twenty points on Hufflepuff. He landed on the damp grass, followed by the other players for the Gryffindor team. “Everything alright, mate?” Bilius asked the moment he set foot on the ground, looking at Derek with concern. “You seem a bit - er - distracted out there.”

Derek frowned, “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I’m sorry guys.”

“After all the chasing us off to bed that you’d done, you didn’t go right to bed?” Frank Longbottom asked, shaking his head, “Oi, Derek, talk about hypocrisy!”

“I know,” Derek said, abashed, “Some - er - things came up. Potter… Evans… You two are doing brilliantly.”

James puffed up with pride. “Thanks,” Lily said, whipping her braid over her shoulder from where it had come ‘round the front.

Bilius eyed Derek carefully.

“I’m alright. Really. I just needed some water,” Derek said, “I’ll be right back.” He ducked away into the Gryffindor locker room.

Madam Hooch landed behind the Gryffindors, “Everything alright over here?”

“Yeah, we’re alright, Derek just needed a cup of water,” Bilius informed her. “Soon as he’s back on the pitch we’ll be ready to go again.”

Madam Hooch nodded and took off again to relay the information to the Hufflepuff team.

Alex Tinnamin and Bilius were sharing a look that James was pretty sure was a whole conversation, but he didn’t know what they were saying with the expressions of their faces, though they certainly did, and it ended with Bilius shrugging as Derek came back onto the pitch a moment later, his face wet from having splashed water on it. “Alright,” he said, “Let’s get back in the air and get this thing shut down.” He took a deep breath and waved to Madam Hooch as the seven players rose up into the air once more.

James thought it was funny that Bilius and Alex seemed to know what was going on and he wondered what Derek had really been up to all night if he hadn’t slept. Whatever it was must’ve been mighty important to get Derek’s mind off Quidditch, though, and it had James’s curiosity peaked. He stashed away a mental note to mention it to Sirius, Remus, and Peter, so that they could investigate what was going on.

For now, though, Quidditch was what was most important to him, at least.

Refreshed from the time-out, Derek scored another goal almost immediately after play resumed. Gryffindor was now one-hundred and thirty up on Hufflepuff. The bludgers were coming at him and Lily and Derek with unbelievable speed as the Hufflepuff beaters got more and more frustrated. A bludger got past Frank Longbottom and hit Lily in the ankle at one point, making her shriek and Madam Hooch called a foul on Hufflepuff, allowing Lily to make a shot on an unblocked goal, which she easily made.

At 210 to 70, the match had been anything but uneventful. 140 points ahead, James was far from comfortable with their lead, however, as all it would take was -- and then it happened, just as he was thinking it. The Hufflepuff Seeker suddenly broke into a dive, his broom pointed straight downward, arm outstretched as he shot through the air. James followed the trajectory and sure enough there was the snitch, hovering near to the ground, but directly on target for the Seeker’s aim. His heart leaped into his throat. “ALEX!” he shouted, and pointed.

Tinnamin had just spotted the Hufflepuff Seeker’s dive as well and broke into one as well, though he had considerable ground to gain before he could even hope of capturing the little golden ball.

James looked about for the quaffle and saw one of the Hufflepuff players just above him, about to pass the quaffle to another. He took a deep breath. This was his moment. He had to beat the Seeker’s speed to the snitch with his own speed to the quaffle. He shot upward, clutching his broomstick and laying as low to the handle as he could to allow the air to flow ‘round him as smooth as possible. He reached up and knocked the quaffle out of its pass, tucking it quickly beneath his own elbow as he turned the broomstick with a jerk. People in the stands were gasping - whether for him or the neck-to-neck race between the two Seekers far off below as they swooped together to follow the snitch around the curve of the south end of the pitch, both with their arms stretched out, practically standing on their brooms for all the reach they were giving… James moved toward the rings, his heart slamming about in his rib cage, and with an almighty thrust, he shoved the ball through the air. The quaffle left his fingertips, soaring through the left ring, only just out of reach of the diving Keeper. Very nearly simultaneously, the snitch was captured below by the Hufflepuff Seeker.

The Hufflepuff onlookers in the stands went ballistic, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle several times over and they froze in their celebrations, staring out at the pitch in disbelief. “Score from James Potter on Gryffindor’s side as well as Padlove catching the snitch! 220 to 220! BLIMEY! A TIE!” The commentator’s voice echoed ‘round the pitch and the Hufflepuff students looked flabbergasted.

“What the bloody hell happens in a tie?” asked Sirius, who had never once seen a tied quidditch match before.

It was clear, too, that it wasn’t a regular occurrence as Madam Hooch called a timeout and consulted the official game rules book in the locker room. Tension built in the stands and on the field as the players huddled together in their teams in the misty air.

“Good one, James,” said Derek, giving James a quick high-five in midair.

“Yeah, awesome job, Potter,” agreed Tinnamin, while Bilius, Frank, Lily and Andrew Woodhouse all grinned at him. James felt rather like a star.

Madam Hooch returned after several long moments and flew up through the air to where Dumbledore sat in the stands and whispered in his ear.

When she’d pulled away, Dumbledore was grinning and pointed his wand to his throat and magically amplified his voice about the pitch. “In the event of a tie, we enter sudden death overtime.” There was an excited murmur that went through the stands and Derek’s eyes were wide with excitement - he was certainly in the game now! Dumbledore went on, “Each team shall take turns one by one shooting on the hoops - the first team to score an unmatched goal will be declared the winner.”

Derek looked ‘round at them all quickly. “Evans. You shoot.”

Lily’s eyes widened, “Me?” she squeaked.

Derek nodded. “You got this Evans.”

“Yeah go on, Lily!” James said.

She blushed and flew forward as Madam Hooch waved for the first two shooters to go. Hufflepuff won the toss and they were the first to try to shoot on the rings and Lily hung back, watching as the sixth year Chaser that had scored nearly all of Hufflepuff’s goals for the whole game - a girl with auburn hair - took aim and flew toward Woodhouse at the Gryffindor end of the pitch.

Woodhouse crouched against his broom in the goal, heaving with nerves, and the Chaser shot… Woodhouse dove spectacularly and his fingers scraped the quaffle, but despite his valiant effort, the ball still soared through the far right ring. “Damn it!” Woodhouse shouted as the Hufflepuff girl swooped about to the loud applause of the Hufflepuff spectators.

“Here you are Evans,” Madam Hooch said, handing her the quaffle. “Make the goal to stay alive.”

Lily’s hands shook as she took hold on the ball and she flew down the length of the pitch toward the Hufflepuff Keeper. She’d been shooting on him all game long the same way, she realized, and she saw him edging a bit toward the left, leaving the right ring nearly unblocked. She sped up, biting her lip with determination, and at the very last moment, she switched hands and palmed the quaffle through the right ring with all of her might.

The Gryffindor side of the pitch exploded with excitement.

“230 to 230!” shouted the commentator.

Derek looked at James. “Go,” he said.

James nodded and he heard Sirius, Remus, and Peter all screaming in excitement as he flew out to meet Madam Hooch and the second shooter for the Hufflepuff team. So much was riding on this. He just hoped he didn’t goof it up. He wished that this had been the game Charlus and Dora had come to see - but he hoped that he would have something exciting to tell them when he wrote them that night to tell them about the first match.

The Hufflepuff chaser sped off down the pitch. Woodhouse had come forward a bit off the rings and was ready, broom trembling with energy. When the chaser shot the ball, he tilted the broom and took the quaffle right in the chest. It bounced off his protective gear and Madam Hooch swarmed down to catch it before it hit the ground. Hufflepuff spectators were now booing loudly.

“Here you are, Potter,” Madam Hooch said, tossing the ball to James. “Make this goal and you’ll have won the match for Gryffindor.”

The quaffle had never felt so heavy.

He sat in the center of the pitch, staring down the length of it toward the rings and he felt sick to his stomach as the pitch seemed to grow longer and longer as he stared off at the shrinking Hufflepuff keeper. He swallowed, nerves rising up within him.

It started slowly - lowly - just Sirius at first but then Remus and Peter and then the other Gryffindors and soon the Ravenclaws, too… “Potter! Potter! Potter! Potter! POTTER! POTTER! POTTER!” His name echoed ‘round the pitch and James felt the energy of it building him up, reconstructing his nerves and he grinned widely as he flew down the pitch… and sunk the quaffle right past the Hufflepuff Keeper, ending the game in Gryffindor’s favor.