Chapter Thirteen: Trust Friendship

*The players began to fly about each other, glaring and spiting vile comments as they fought for control of the quaffle. Somehow Sirius managed to get the ball and began racing towards the Slytherin rings, but his throw was blocked by the Slytherin keeper. He looked slightly angry, but backed away and tried to regain the ball. Unfortunately, a well-aimed bludger made him pull short, stalling him from overtaking the Slytherin who currently possessed the ball. The Slytherin chaser who had the ball faked left and then paused, waiting for the Gryffindor keeper to fall for the trick. He did, and then the Slytherin released the quaffle, sending it through the hoops.

“Slytherin chaser Lucious Malfoy scores! Score is fifty-to-zero!” The Slytherin House let out a large roar of victory, and the Gryffindors all tried to ignore them. Again the Slytherins managed to steal the quaffle from a Gryffindor chaser, and they sped for the hoops. What they didn’t see was Sirius come up from beneath them and knock the quaffle from their hold. Another Gryffindor chaser picked it up and passed it to Sirius, who zoomed straight past the Slytherin hoops, only to turn around and send the quaffle backwards through the hoops.

“And Gryffindor scores! It’s a tie, fifty-to-fifty! Sirius Black teaches those slimy Slytherin who’s boss on the quidditch field!” The Gryffindors laughed at Roberto’s remarks and cheered. Ara screamed as loudly as she could, and even Lily couldn’t help get into the spirit and yell out a few encouraging words to their friend.

Once again the quaffle was being tossed about, and suddenly James’ eye caught something shining in the dim and wet sky. The snitch! He quickly maneuvered his broom, but saw that the Slytherin seeker was going to reach the snitch before he did. Putting as much extra speed into his broom as he could, James leaned down and tried to catch up. Just as the Slytherin seeker had the snitch in his grasp, the shining orb fluttered to the right and the Slytherin missed it. James’ heart soared. Maybe he would be able to get it after all… and then all of a sudden the snitch was gone. It had vanished again.

Lily, whose eyes had been focused on James for most of the game, saw him begin to move his broom. Her eyes followed the direction he was heading and she caught a glimpse of the snitch. Nudging Ara beside her, she pointed James out, and suddenly they were concentrating on James. Remus, too, caught on to their sudden interest in James.

“Look, the Slytherin seeker is going to get the snitch first!” Remus cried.

“Oh no!” Ara moaned.

“No. No he won’t. James’ll come through.” Lily’s eyes never left James.

“Lil, he’s not going to make it, the Slytherin seeker is almost there!” Ara whined.

“No. James is going to win, one way or another.” Lily whispered. Ara barely heard her, but was surprised at her words. It was very uncharacteristic of Lily to speak as she was. Optimism had never been Lily’s strong point. All three of them watched on as the Slytherin seeker dove for the snitch, only to miss it as it dodged to the right and then disappeared. Ara and Remus’ mouths dropped and Lily smiled a half smile.

“You’re joking.” Remus muttered.

“Told you so.” Lily smirked. But she could see James’ face and knew he was angry with himself for almost losing the game for his team. She felt bad for him, and wanted to tell him not to worry, that everything would be all right, that he would have another chance, one that he wouldn’t fail no matter what. She wanted to, but she couldn’t. So all she could do was send him looks that told him what she thought, even if he didn’t see them, she still felt like she was helping to make a difference.

James whirled his broom around looking for any signs of the missing snitch. He could see nothing. Then again, it was rather hard to see through the light rain and his glasses, which were fogging up and dripping with water. Still, he looked across the quidditch field and caught eyes with none other than Lily. She was looking at him sympathetically, then her eyes changed from ones of sorrow to determination. He knew what she was trying to tell him. And she was right. He would have another chance; he would win this for his team. Nodding more to himself than anything else, he pulled his broom up and soared higher in the sky, searching for the snitch.

Again the quaffle fell into the hands of the Slytherin catcher Lucious Malfoy. So far the score was one hundred to fifty, Slytherin favor, and he obviously intended to keep it that way- until Sirius Black caught on. Then Sirius set his normally smirking mouth into a straight frown and looked at Malfoy with hard eyes. Enough was enough. Sirius managed to put himself in-between Malfoy and the hoops as a sort of roadblock. As Malfoy tried to stop his broom form colliding with Sirius, he dropped the quaffle. At the last second Sirius pulled down and caught the falling quaffle.

He tossed it to a team member, who zoomed to the other end of the field. When Sirius caught his bearings, he followed. Three Slytherin players managed to triple team the Gryffindor with the quaffle. Panicking, the Gryffindor wildly threw the quaffle into the air and prayed for a miracle. God sent Sirius instead. Sirius managed to catch the quaffle and without taking a good look, launched it for the hoops. It went directly through the Slytherin keeper’s hands and bounced off the hoop, ricocheting through.

“And Sirius Black scores for Gryffindor again! The score is tied, one hundred-to-one hundred!” Gryffindors stood in their seats and cheered. The Slytherins across the field could be heard booing them, but they drowned them out by far.

“See? I told you he would score!” Ara jumped up and down.

“You said three times.” Remus grinned. “So far it’s only twice.”

“Two times, three, what’s the difference? He scored! And he stole the ball from Malfoy. That right there made my day!” The Gryffindors around her who heard her laughed, agreeing completely. That had been the highlight of the game- so far.

James smiled wickedly at his best friend and slapped him a high-five as they rode by each other on their brooms. The look on Malfoy’s face had been priceless! Better than any prank by far! James laughed evilly. They were going to win… he could smell victory. And he could see the snitch to his left. The snitch to his left? There it was! He grinned like a maniac and bent over on his broom, zooming in to catch the tiny ball.

The Slytherin seeker had just taken notice of the precious ball as well, and knowing full well he was too far away from James to beat him to it, he called for help. A Slytherin beater heard him and as the bludger drew near, he aimed it at James.

James could feel the cold, wet metal of the snitch in his numb palm. He could feel the small fluttering of the tiny wings attached to the ball, and then he felt an incredible pain shoot through his upper shoulder and head. He faltered, and as he went down, the snitch nearly slipped through his hand. Only by good grace did he manage to hold on to one of the fluttering wings. He had the snitch!

“And the bludger aimed by the Slytherin beater has hit James Potter, but the match is over! Gryffindor wins! Potter has the snitch! James Potter has the snitch!” And only then did James know what had happened. The bludger… it must have hit him… but they had won… he smiled, then gave over to unconsciousness.

Lily saw the bludger as it neared James and cried out in alarm, alerting Ara and Remus to the problem. All three of them watched as the bludger hit James squarely in the upper shoulder of his right arm as it reached out to grab the snitch. Then the bludger bounced up and hit James roughly in the side of the head before it bounced away.

“James!” Lily screamed. Ara flailed around a bit before she grabbed the nearly hysterical Lily and held her close as she cried, repeating James’ name over and over again.

“Oh crap!” Remus shouted. “James!” All three of them heard Roberto announce that the games was over, that James had managed to catch the snitch even though he had been injured, but none of them cared.

They stood and rushed down the steps of the stadium seats, trying to get to the field where their friend lay unconscious. The rest of the Gryffindor team was already gathering around James, Sirius being the first to reach him. The rest of the Gryffindor house was cheering, obviously not too worried about the boy who had just won the game for them. Soon Remus managed to push his way through the quidditch players and let Lily and Ara through. Lily fell to her knees, and Sirius, who was cradling James’ head, looked up at her.

“He needs to get to Madame Pomfrey, now!” She nodded and stood.

“I’m going for Madame Pomfrey. Watch him.” She ordered Ara and Remus. They nodded numbly at her, too choked up to speak. Then she pushed out of the crowd.

“Lily, at least we won.” Peter told her as she left.

“But at what cost? James could be seriously hurt Peter.”

“We won.”

“Think what you like.” Lily told him sharply. Then she ran off.

>>>)(<<<

Everything was black. Then gray. Colors seemed faded, almost as if life was a black and white movie. Then a house. At first the house seemed the picturesque place to raise a family- little blue shutters and a white picket fence. Then the house seemed to grow old and the paint faded, cracked, and peeled. The picket fence was missing portions, and the white was now muddy brown. Rain poured down in torrents, and waves could be heard as they crashed violently against the side of the cliffs.

And on the cliffs one lone figure stood, wrapped in a dark blanket. The face of the figure was indistinguishable, but the long hair told that it was a woman, girl, who looked out into the tempest. A great feeling of loneliness and angst overcame the atmosphere of the once picture perfect scene. And then the cliffs gave way. Down went the figure, silently, no sound or scream was heard, only the crashing of the waves.

Just as the silhouette was about to be claimed by the mighty sea, she was gone. Instead of being dragged away by the deep, the girl stood perfectly still on top of the cliffs again, as if nothing had happened. No wand, no apparent magic of any sort. She just apparated back on top of the cliffs, and that was it. The scene that had felt so tragic faded from gray, and then everything went dark black again.

>>>)(<<<

The next time James opened his eyes, color barraged his senses. Blinking, he opened his eyes wider. And then pain. It seemed to seep into his very bones as a dull aching spread through his whole body as he became aware of himself again. He groaned, and his parched throat burned. He was so thirsty!

“James?” A quiet whisper tickled his ear. Unable to speak yet, he moaned again in response. “James!” A warm feeling encompassed him and James relaxed again as a soft pressure move forward and lay atop him. Long, reddish hair fanned out about his chest, and he knew instantly who it was.

“Lily?” He croaked. His jaw hurt like hell. Finally the shaking girl lifted her head, and James saw tears that clouded her jade green eyes and trailed down her flawless porcelain cheeks.

“Yeah.” She managed to smile, and James sighed. He loved her smile. “How do you feel?”

“Like I was hit upside the head by a bludger.” He told her frankly, managing a smirk. And then Lily gave a quirky and short giggle. And then she laughed. A full-blown, unhindered laugh. James savored the warmth she emitted as she enjoyed her happiness.

“James!” She laughed. “God I’ve been so worried about you!” She stopped laughing and wiped away the tears that had been falling.

“Hey, you laughed. That’s one for the record book.”

“James! Is that all you can think about?”

“Hey! I’ve just been hit by a very hard bludger. I think I deserve to have a few nutty thoughts here and there.” He joked. Then he groaned. It hurt to laugh.

“Are you alright? No, of course you’re not! You’ve been out for three days! Let me get Madame Pomfrey and…”

“Lily, relax. She’ll come to check on me soon enough, I’m sure. Now then, three days?”

“Yeah. You missed the awarding of the house cup, the final feast, and Sirius and Remus pulled a prank fest on the Slytherins for hitting you with the bludger. Sirius was so angry… I never want to see his eyes that dark ever again. But James, you’ve been unconscious the whole time! Everyone leaves for home tomorrow, and Madame Pomfrey actually thought she would be keeping you into the summer.”

“I missed all that?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then, start talking!” He announced.

“About what?”

“How the Slytherins looked when they walked into the Great Hall and saw the Gryffindor banners flying high at the house cup ceremony. And I want details on every one of the pranks Sirius and Remus pulled.”

“Of course.” Lily smiled. This was the James she knew. She was glad he was all right. She was more than glad… she was ecstatic! She had been so worried over him. All three days she had sat by him for hours on end, hoping he would wake up. Anyone who wanted to visit James had to go through Madame Pomfrey and then her. The only times she had left was when Madame Pomfrey had practically her out telling her to eat and rest.

It wasn’t that Lily was in love with James. It wasn’t that she had a secret crush on him. It was the fact that he was her friend. He had been the first one to speak to her and really give her the time of day at Hogwarts aside from Hagrid. James had been there for her, introduced her to Ara and Sirius and Remus. He had put up with her, taken her shopping, trued to make her laugh, and taught her about rule breaking. He was the very first unconditional friend she had ever had, and she didn’t think for a minute that it was right that she abandon him while he needed support the most.

“Lily?” James asked. Lily seemed to have drifted off somewhere deep in thought. She looked so happy and bright, not her usual self. Something was different. “Hey Lil!” He called again.

“Hmm? Oh! I’m sorry. What?” She blushed. Some friend she was, drifting off like that.

“You look different.” He told her, smirking.

“Oh? Well, I haven’t done anything different to myself since the day you were injured… I’ve been in here mostly. What’s changed?”

“You’re heavy makeup. It’s gone.”

“Is it? Crying must have done that. I’m surprised it’s not smeared everywhere.”

“Nope, it’s just all gone. You look happier, lighter. I like it. But I like you’re other look too.” Lily said nothing, but the bright blush on her cheeks was enough for James. He started laughing.

“What’s this?” Madame Pomfrey came strolling into the room. “James Potter! You’re awake!” She stuttered. “Miss Evans, I do wish you had come and gotten me.”

“I’m sorry Madame Pomfrey, but I didn’t think it would be right to leave him unsupervised.”

“Well, I do suppose you have a point. Still. I will need you to leave now Miss Evans. I need to give him a full check over before I can decide whether he’s well enough to go home tomorrow with the rest of you or not.”

“All right then.” Lily nodded, slightly sad that she would need to be leaving James now.

“Lovely Lady Lily, have no fear, I shall see you soon.” James proclaimed smiling. Lily smiled too.

“Alright then James. Rest up and I’ll check on you after dinner.” And then Madame Pomfrey hustled her out.

Lily felt as though she were walking on air she was so happy. Entering the Gryffindor common room, she found it deserted. Most likely everyone was at dinner. No matter. She climbed the steps to her dorm room and took a look at herself in the mirror. Quickly she brushed her long red hair out and tucked it behind her ears. Then she re-applied her dark eye makeup and the pale foundation she wore. Much better. Now she looked like her gloom and doom old self.

Practically skipping, she entered the Great Hall and took her usual seat beside Arabella, which cause a few people to raise their eyebrows.

“Lily? I thought you were glued to James?” Remus asked quietly.

“I was until Madame Pomfrey kicked me out.” She said smiling.

“Then why you so happy?” Sirius looked doubtful.

“Because he’s awake!” Lily practically screamed. Her smile broke into a large grin and her shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. “He’s awake and he’s fine! He wanted to here how the Slytherins looked during the house cup ceremony and the details on the pranks you played while he was asleep!”

“He what?” Remus and Sirius yelled together. Both of them stood and rushed out of the Great Hall. The other people in the room looked to her and Arabella for an answer, so Arabella stood up.

“James Potter is awake.” She announced with a large smile. The whole room burst into applause.

“How is he?” Someone called.

“He wants to know how the Slytherins feel to be humiliated again!” She laughed. The other houses, save the Slytherins, broke into laughter. Lily felt like joining them. Life was good for a change.

>>>)(<<<

The train whistle blew and group of six, the Marauders and two girls, who people had taken to calling the Dynamic Duet as a joke, climbed aboard. They grabbed the last compartment on the train. Peter immediately left to find the food cart, but the rest of them grabbed seats and settled in.

“Can you believe this is how our year started, all of us on this train, only separate?” Arabella asked happily.

“Well, we weren’t separate, you were.” Sirius grinned at her. “Lily rode with us on the way up because she was kicked out of the other compartments.”

“For which I am eternally grateful.” James told them. Laughter fell upon the group and Lily shot him a look- that was counteracted by the blush across her cheeks.

“James. I’m simply a freak who got caught up with a bunch of the most popular kids in school.” She muttered. “There isn’t anything to be eternally grateful for.”

“Lily, you are not a freak!” Was the general comment that followed from everyone in the compartment.

“Lily, why do you think that?” James asked quietly. Lily sat in silence for a moment.

“Because James.” She took a deep breath. “Because when I was younger I was told by my sister, Petunia, that I was a freak so many times that I just figured it was true. Why would my own sister lie to me? It took me a while to realize she was right, that I really was a freak, but after I did, I started dressing like one. I mean, if I am a freak, I might as well dress like one so you can tell right off the bat.”

“Oh Lily.” Ara sighed. Though she had heard the story before, it still hurt her to think that her friend thought that about herself.

“Lily. I understand you love your sister, but you believed that garbage?” Sirius spat. “It isn’t right. You’re one of the coolest people I know. You aren’t a freak.”

“I second that. Lily, you’re smart and funny and sweet. A freak is someone who doesn’t know how to use their heart- like Peter.” Remus smirked.

“Lily, we like you for you. You are not a freak... you’re perfect as a matter of fact. We could careless about how you dress; it’s your personality that we like. You’re my friend, no matter what. Trust us. Trust me. Please.” James implored her.

“I was scared to trust you all at first, I was. I saw the pranks you pulled and was scared I would be another target if I let you get close. But after, well, after pretty much everything this year, I do know that I can trust you. I trust you all.” Lily said quietly. She looked up and her eyes met James’ briefly. A small spark shot through both of them, electricity that had come form nowhere. But as soon as it sparked it disappeared and was forgotten.

“Well. Now that this is all settled, let’s us make a pact. Next year when we return to Hogwarts, we stick by each other, no matter what.” Arabella suggested.

“Alright, it’s a deal!” Sirius was the first to agree. Remus nodded.

“I’m in.”

“Great idea. I’m all for it!” James yelled enthusiastically. “Lily?”

“I would have no life without you all. I’m in!” She smiled slightly.

“Then till next year!” Arabella announced giggling.

“Till next year!” The others cheered. *

~~~OK. Well now. This isn’t the end… they’ve got one more year to go, full of Voldie, betrayal, and… dun dun dun… ROMANCE! I think I’ve developed the friendships enough, so now it’s time for LOVE to commence! Get ready, and PLEASE REVIEW! -Vixen~~~