All's Fair in Love and War...Right?

Chapter 7: Fiftieth Time

On the full moon of October, four cloaked figures met under the oak tree by the lake.

"Well, who wants to go first?" James asked, breaking the silence. Though they wouldn't ever admit it, they were all nervous. The thousands of books warning them on how Animagi transformation could go horribly wrong didn't exactly help.

"I guess I'll go," Jessilyn said bravely. The others nodded encouragingly. Jessilyn squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself. The next moment, an ocelot had replaced her.

"Aw, you're so much cuter," James teased, trying not to show how relieved he was that the transformation had not gone wrong. The large cat blinked her unmistakable robin's egg blue eyes.

"You're next, Peter." Sirius nudged the now reassured Peter.

"Alright, here I go." Peter squeezed his eyes shut just as Jessilyn had done, hopefully imagining himself as a fierce dog, or lion, or something. He transformed into a gray rat.

"Together, mate?" James asked Sirius.

"On the count of three," he replied.

"One, two, three!" James transformed into a handsome stag as Sirius transformed into a giant black dog. They exchanged satisfied glances and then led the others to the Whopping Willow.

"Look sharp, Kale," Spencer Fields, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team told her as they walked out to the field.

"It's okay, we're going to win this," James said. They were still all tired from last night's adventure. Then in the morning they had come up with nicknames. James was Prongs, Sirius was Padfoot, Peter was Wormtail, and Jessilyn was Kitty. She had muttered something along the lines of "stripper name".

"Always so confident," Ciara Johnson, the other Chaser, mused.

"The Quidditch Cup is going to have our name on it!" Henry Lamington, one of the Beaters, punched the air energetically.

Gryffindor was playing Ravenclaw on a clear, sunny, day; perfect for Quidditch. Everyone mounted their brooms and on the whistle, took off! Blurred figures dressed in rich red and blue cloaks whizzed around. Lily had volunteered for the commentary job until they could find someone else, who actually understood Quidditch.

"And they take off! Johnson gets the ball--sorry! I mean Quarffle and passes to Potter. Oh, Braver steals it and Montgomery beats um, another Quarffle at him. Wait, is that allowed?"

The crowds groaned and Professor McGonagall sighed.

"It's not a Quarffle! And since he's a Beater, yes, it's allowed!" someone shouted. Lily turned red and blushed.

"She's doing her best," James said from his broom and winked at her.

"Oi! Potter, what are you doing chatting? Get back in the game!" Spencer shouted, clearly annoyed.

"Evans, go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked charmingly.

"For the fiftieth time, NO I WILL NOT GO TO HOGSMEADE WITH YOU, YOU PRICK!" Lily shouted. Unfortunately, the entire Quidditch pitch could hear her. As soon as she realized this, she turned a brighter red.

"Hey, fiftieth time is the lucky charm," James joked.

"Potter, if you don't get back in this game, I'm kicking you out!" Professor McGonagall threatened.

James whizzed back into the game, immediately stealing the Quarffle from Matt Braver, a Ravenclaw Chaser. Matt chased him to the other end of the pitch and knocked the back of his broom into James, stealing the Quarffle and sending James flying into the goal post. With a sickening crunch, James's head hit the metal goal post. Several girls from the Gryffindor side screamed. Matt scored, tying up the game. James was just barely hanging on to his broom. Jessilyn flew over quickly.

"James! Are you okay?" Jessilyn asked

"What are you doing? Get the snitch and I'll be fine!" James roared. Jessilyn obeyed and rounded the pitch, searching for a tiny golden walnut shaped ball. As the true Seeker that she was, she grasped it tightly in the next minute.

"Okay, Fields blocked that one. And now...oh! We've won! Gryffindor's won."

The stands erupted into cheers.

"Party in the common room!"

Moments later, the Gryffindor common room was filled with Butterbeer and food from the kitchens. In a corner, Jessilyn and James were arguing.

"He knocked me off my broom! Illegally!" James protested.

"Oh, come on. It was Quidditch!" Jessilyn said, exasperated.

"So? Shane Michaels dumped him. She must have had a reason."

"What? She dumps everyone who loses a Quidditch match."

"You're not going to Hogsmeade with Matt Braver," James insisted.

"I can go to Hogsmeade with whoever the hell I want to." Jessilyn glared.

"Prongs is right. Remember last year? Michael Corner, ring a bell?" Sirius said, joining them.

"Oh, stay out of it, Sirius! Look at who you date," Jessilyn retorted.

"That's different," he said defensively.

"Kit, don't go with him. Anyone but him! Blimey, go with Kevin Abbott," James said.

"Look, I go on one date with him and see what he's like. If he's not nice, we end it."

"Fine," James gave in.

"Thank you!" Jessilyn said and then left to get another Butterbeer.

Just then, Lily walked up to him, looking quite flustered.

"Um, Potter? I'm sorry I called you a prick in front of the whole school." Lily took a deep breath and then braced herself.

"What? Did you just apologize?" James said mockingly.

"Don't ruin it, Potter." Lily glared.

"How about you make up for it by going to Hogsmeade with me?"

"What? No!"

"No?"

"Yes!"

"Yes?"

"No!"

"Make up your mind, Evans!"

"Stop it! And for your information, I'm going with Jared Freedman already!" Lily stormed away.

"Women." James rolled his eyes.

"Say, Prongs. I don't trust this Matt Braver guy. I heard they're going on a double date with Evans and this Freedman guy," Sirius said evilly.

"Right, it would be such a same if their cloaks caught on fire..." James agreed.

"That went well," Lily said sarcastically.

"Oh, well. I don't think I like Matt very much anyways." Jessilyn kicked off her boots and settled into her bed.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't like Jared much either."

"Then why did you go with him?" Jessilyn cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, Potter was being such a prick. I...thought...it would get on his nerves," Lily admitted. Jessilyn giggled.

"What?" Lily demanded.

"You were right. It did get on his nerves, and, Lily Evans, using someone?" Jessilyn mocked.

"Shut up," Lily mumbled, embarrassed. "I wonder how their cloaks caught on fire..."

"Err, maybe the humidity and the Butterbeer...you know? The Three Broomsticks is quite a flammable place. I'll be right back, Lils."

Lily scrunched her eyebrows together, confused. What was Jessilyn talking about? It wasn't humid outside at all. And since when was Butterbeer flammable?

Jessilyn slammed The Marauder's dormitory doors open.

"James Potter and Sirius Black! You want to tell me how Matt and Jared's cloaks suddenly caught on fire?"

Remus laughed and looked up from his book to watch the show.

"Well, the humidity and the Butterbeer. Sometimes, it's just too much and...boom!" Sirius said in his best convincing voice. James quickly nodded his agreement. Peter tried to stifle his laughter.

"Humidity, my ass," Jessilyn said, but wasn't able to keep from giggling.

"Don't tell me you weren't relieved," James said.

"Yeah, he talked about himself for a whole hour," Sirius added.

"Alright, fine. But you shouldn't have done that. And, it was nice to get to know him," Jessilyn admitted.

"Right."

"Really!" she insisted.

"Sure, Kitty."

Jessilyn scowled lightly at the nickname.

"I better get back to Lily and distract her before she figures it out."