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The Quidditch Team Dinner


Lily was on her way down to the dinner when she heard the storming sound of fast-moving feet behind her. She paused and looked back and saw James Potter careening down the hall toward her, only just managing to stop before knocking right into her. “Evans,” he said, “Hey, at least I know I’m not late.” He laughed breathlessly.

“Well, honestly, we both are a bit,” she said with a shrug, “But I doubt Slughorn will notice.”

James made a face. “I wish it wasn’t in his office.”

“Trust me, I certainly do, too. It’s going to be just like those Slug Club parties he holds now and then.” She sighed, “You’ve been to one of those, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, last Christmas,” he answered. “Remus brought me along.”

As soon as he’d said it, Lily remembered the night. It had been a terrible night, all stuffy and overpacked in Slughorn’s office, eating lamb kebobs. James had made fun of Severus and upset him and it had ended in a horrible fight in the corridor between Lily and Severus. “Oh, yeah, I remember now,” she said, her voice a bit chillier than it had been.

James glanced over at her as they walked on down the stairs toward the dungeons. He turned away when she would look over to see if he was looking at her, but his eyes kept finding their way back to her, looking at the way her eyelashes curled out from the lids and the turn of her mouth. “So how’s it going with you and Remus?” he asked as they were descending the staircase into the entrance hall.

Lily shrugged, though the question made her stomach flip-flop a little bit within her. “Oh,” she said quietly, “I don’t know. It’s going well, you know. He’s very good at, er, studying.” Her cheeks turned pink instantly. Studying? Really? That was the most intriguing quality of her boyfriend she could think of to say?

James seemed to be thinking along the same lines as a smirk danced across his lips. “Oh?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied simply, too embarrassed to try to back out of it now.

James chuckled, “He didn’t seem like he knew a whole lot about, uh, studying when he told us about it after.”

Lily paused, confused for a moment, then her mind clicked together and she understood the euphemism James was employing and her eyes widened. “He told you about our - our studying?” she demanded, heart rate picking up.

“Sure,” James said, “He told us loads about the studying.” Lily scowled as James went on. “Said he bloodied your lip. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Lily answered reluctantly, then, when James snickered, she snapped, “And don’t you go making fun of him for it, either. It wasn’t his fault and he was positively mortified when it happened!”

James solemnly dragged his finger across his chest, “Cross my heart, love.”

“Don’t call me that,” Lily replied in disgust.

“What? Love? Don’t call you love?” James asked.

Lily glared at him.

“Blimey, I won’t call you that, then,” he said, relenting with two palms held up. “Relax, Evans.” He smiled. “Hmm… What shall I call you, then?”

“You may call me Lily,” she answered.

James shook his head, “Blimey, no, that’s boring.”

“It’s my name,” she said.

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t boring,” he answered.

Lily frowned, stopping at the mouth of the doorway down to the dungeons. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but you needn’t be calling me anything, honestly, because you don’t even have to be speaking to me for all that I care.”

James laughed, “Aw Lily, c’mon, you love it when I talk to you.”

“I don’t,” she argued and she turned and started down the steps.

“You do,” James sing-songed, “Love it so much you just can’t get enough of it!”

“Shut it,” Lily said.

James was practically skipping down the corridor by now, the adrenaline of being a pest coursing through his veins. Moments like this, he fully understood why Peeves the Poltergeist would choose to spend an eternity driving people mental. It was rather fun agitating Lily, though he didn’t quite know why. James grinned broadly at her annoyed face. He fancied the way her lips curled downward in disapproval. “Do you want to be my date at this thing?” he asked her suddenly.

“What?” Lily looked at him, “No! No I do not want to be your date. First of all, I’m seeing Remus, remember? Your mate, Remus? And for two, why in Merlin’s name would I want to be your date?”

They were standing just outside of Slughorn’s office, the door was open and old Big Band music was pouring out, the light warm and inviting. Delicious smells of dinner came wafting into the hall. Lily stood with her hands on her hips, staring at him expectantly. “So you could talk to me even more - and sit close to me - and maybe even study with me?” James’s grin spread ear to ear.

Lily blinked in surprise for a moment, then shoved him so he stumbled easily a couple steps back, a laugh in his eyes nonetheless. “Shove off!” she said strongly, “I wouldn’t study with you if you were the last boy in the entire school. I’d flunk out before I studied with you.”

James’s grin only widened. “I will flunk with you any time you want, Lily Evans.”

“You are positively disgusting!” she said, and she turned quickly and ran into the party, trying to ignore the sound of James’s uproarious laughter echoing in the corridors behind her. She was muttering to herself angrily as she walked, and she nearly collided with one of the Ilvermorny students, who was talking to Derek Bell.

“Lily!” Derek grinned, “Just the person I was talking about. Scout, this is Lily Evans, she is one of the Gryffindor Chasers, she’s a second year. Brilliant. I would’ve played her if I could’ve filled the team with Gryffindors.” Derek turned Lily to face the other student. “Evans, this is Jack Scout, captain of the Ilvermorny team.”

Jack Scout was tall and his shaggy blonde hair hung a bit in his eyes as he reached out a hand for Lily’s. “Howdy, Miss. Evans,” he said, his thick accent twanging over the words. “Real pleased to meet’cha. I just was tellin’ Derek here how cool it is seein’ alla-y’all Hogwarts girls bein’ into the games ‘round here. Mostly the girls at Ilvermorny ain’t as interested as alla-y’all seem to be. Molly an’ Dawn are the ‘ceptions, really.”

Lily blinked up at him, dumbfounded by the strange accent, “The - er - the ‘ceptions?” she echoed, confused.

“Here’s my other chaser,” Derek said before Jack Scout could clarify and he reached out, pulling James into their little triangle. “Potter, this is Jack Scout - captain of Ilvermorny. Scout - James Potter… He’s a chaser, but you ought to see him seek, he’s brilliant.”

James’s chest puffed up with pride and Lily rolled her eyes. She felt like stamping on Derek’s foot. The last thing James Potter needed was any further praise for things such as his quidditch skills. The boy’s head was full of itself quite enough without any help from Derek’s raving.

“Caught a gumball clear across the pitch at twilight once,” Derek continued on.

“Well, more than once really,” James said, pretending to be embarrassed by Derek going on about him. “Once that you saw.”

Jack Scout chuckled, “If that’s what you’ve got playing Chaser, I hate to see the talent your Seeker must have then, Bell.”

“Andy’s brilliant, too,” Derek said, nodding, “Bit more experience and Potter here will be first line Seeker, no doubt about it.”

Lily sighed. James would be positively impossible from now on.

First chance she got, Lily excused herself from the singing of James’s praise and melted into the crowd, eager to get away. She found herself tucked in a corner of the room, watching everyone else mill about and chatting, wishing she could just got back to her dormitory. She was feeling awful still from the morning - the lingering ghost of Petunia’s smile at the tea party was torturing her mind. She knew she should be enjoying herself, getting to know the Americans and their culture, but she just didn’t have the heart for it. So she stayed in her corner and watched.

“Here.” A cup of mead was thrust before her suddenly, at the hand of James Potter. “I got this for you.” He wobbled it a bit as though to call her attention to it.

“I’m not thirsty,” Lily lied.

James rolled his eyes, “Just take the cup, will you?” he asked.

Lily hesitated, then took it. He grinned. “Just because I took a drink doesn’t mean we’re here on a date or anything like that. You remember that.”

“I know,” he answered.

Lily sniffed the mead - it was a very strong and heavy sort of smell, she’d never had any before. She looked at James, who was sipping from his own cup now, standing beside her, looking about the room calmly. Finally, she gave the cup a teeny little sip. The flavor was good at first - the taste of berries and nuts and an almost floral sort of undertone, which reminded her of summer and the earth alive. But then the aftertaste of alcohol hit her - the burning of it ached all the way down her throat and into her stomach. She made a face. “It burns,” she complained.

James laughed, “It does a little. Imagine what firewhiskey must be like? That’s known for burning.”

“Ugh!” she complained at the thought of it. “I could never drink it. I can’t even finish this, it’s awful.” She turned around and put it down quickly on a little end table beneath a curious looking plant that was like big orange thistles.

James laughed, and, not wanting to pretend or lie any longer about it, he put his cup down next to hers on the table. “I don’t like it much, either,” he said. “So… are you, er, enjoying the party?”

Lily shrugged, “It’s alright.”

“I noticed you’d been over here for a little bit,” James pointed out.

Lily shrugged again.

“You alright? You seem sort of quiet and… I don’t know, maybe sad.” He tilted his head.

“I’m okay,” she replied.

James nodded, “Good. I’m glad you’re okay.” He shoved his hands in his robes pockets and rolled from the heel to the ball of his foot and back a couple times, watching as everyone mingled about. After a few moments of silence, he looked over at Lily again. “You know, you can tell me if there’s something bothering you. I won’t tell anyone.”

Lily looked at him. His face was solemn as could be. He really seemed genuinely concerned, too; it wrinkled the corners of his eyes and turned his lips just a teensy bit. For a moment, Lily was about to break down and tell him everything - about Petunia and her dream and how nervous she was to see Remus again - but just as she started to open her mouth, there came a clinking sound that carried over the party, silencing everyone.

Slughorn was holding aloft a glass and had just hit the side of it with the blunt end of a knife gently so that the musical tinkling drew the attention of those in the room. “Dinner is served,” he called out proudly.

Sure enough, all along the long table that had somehow been magicked to fit into the tiny office, platters with gobs of delicious smelling and tasting food popped up and Slughorn waved for everyone to come and sit down. James quickly two-stepped ahead of Lily and pulled out a chair for her before sitting himself down beside her spot. He didn’t make a big deal of having pulled out her chair, he simply had done it and gone about his business as she sat down. The dinner looked quite amazing - chicken with great big herbs and peppers and potato with garlic butter and knotted bread that smelled of cheese and honey. Lily took a cup of pumpkin juice and two of the delicious rolls that she dipped in a little plate of olive oil instead of buttering them.

During dinner, talk of quidditch and the tournament filled the table. Bilius Weasley was telling Dawn Gleason, the pretty Ilvermorny player, about his various grand plays as a beater for Gryffindor, bragging heartily. She smiled politely, but clearly wasn’t too impressed with Bilius’s long and slightly exaggerated track record for saving his mates in the knick of time. Lily saw her roll her eyes to the frizzy red haired player, though, and thought that Dawn Gleason’s looks may be the only pretty thing about her.

When the dinner was over, Lily and James walked back to Gryffindor tower together. Derek had taken the Ilvermorny team and the Hogwarts all star team off to some other meeting they were to have concerning the tournament. Bilius, as Head Boy, had gone off to a prefects meeting and Frank Longbottom had gone in search of some friends in the Great Hall, where the real dinner was still going on. Lily and James were alone again as they climbed the stairs, and silent until they’d reached the corridor that led to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

“Well, thanks for walking with me,” Lily said.

James nodded, “Not a problem.”

Lily scratched her arm a moment and her hesitation made James pause. He’d been about to tell the Fat Lady the password and go inside the dorms, but Lily seemed to want to say something, so he stayed still, waiting for her to say whatever it was.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked after a couple moments had passed.

“Just a bit overwhelmed, I guess,” she replied. “Do you ever get overwhelmed?”

James nodded, “Of course.”

“What do you do?” Lily asked, “To make it better, I mean?”

James shrugged, “I just tell myself it’s going to be alright, or I talk to Sirius or mum or dad or somebody I trust. Bubo sometimes.” He chuckled, “I dunno, I just try not to keep it all inside. It only gets worse when you do.”

Lily nodded. Alice had been that person for her, but Alice was gone.

James stepped closer and lifted her lowered chin with his index finger so that she was looking up at him with her brilliant green eyes. He smiled down at her - not in his usual obnoxious, know-it-all sort of smirking way, but a real smile, a bit crooked at the corner, with just a couple of his teeth showing. “Evans. It’s going to be okay, whatever it is that’s bothering you. You’ll keep on and you’ll get through it. I know you will.” His voice was so gentle that for a moment, Lily forgot it was James Potter that was talking to her… forgot how vile and gross he was… and just stared back into his dark brown eyes. “Chin up, love.”

James’s smile deepened into the smirky one she hated.

Coming suddenly to her senses, Lily quickly pulled away. “Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry, Evans.”

Lily nodded and turned to the Fat Lady. “Jabberwocky,” she announced and the Fat Lady swung open, admitting the pair of them into the common room. It was mostly empty, everyone had gone on to the Great Hall for dinner, so there were only a few fifth years, still frantically working on their papers that they’d only just started that morning.

“Maybe talk to Remus about whatever it is that’s bothering you?” James suggested. “You don’t want to keep it all bottled up.”

“Yeah,” Lily replied, “Maybe.” She turned toward the stairs up to the girls dormitories. “Good night, Potter.”

“Night, Evans.”