Comedy/Tragedy: The Story of a Doomed Existence

Chapter Eleven: The Quidditch Pitch

Friday afternoons were, as always, very hectic. Students were always very glad to be free of all their classes for the weekend, so there were many games of gobstones, wizard's chess, and other leisure activities. Today, however, a couple of sixth years decided that they would set off a number of particularly smelly Dungbombs, the latest invention of a popular joke shop. The common room evacuated pretty quickly after this, but Lily was one of the few grateful for what had happened; all the confusion was the perfect opportunity to talk to Sirius.

"Sirius?"

"Oh - hey, Lily."

"We need to meet to discuss the project..."

"Oh, yes. How about in twenty minutes, unused classroom to the left of the Transfiguration classroom?"

"Sounds good...I'll get the shirt, you bring the book."

Fifteen minutes later, Lily, Lucy, and Alice were headed toward the Transfiguration class. Lucy had the shirt down the front of her robes. When they arrived, Sirius was already there.

"Hi, Sirius. Got it?"

The boy grinned and held up the small book. Lily and her friends stepped inside, jumping slightly as the door slammed shut behind them and someone they had not seen whispered a locking charm.

"Remus!"

"Yeah, I brought him along...he hates Hurler too," Sirius said coolly, leaning back on a dusty desk. "So, the spell. I dog-eared the page," he indicated a slight indentation in the book's greasy pages. "It doesn't look too difficult, but we brought some simple things to try it on first." He held up an assortment of discarded Gobstones, empty inkbottles, and items of equal simplicity and insignificance.

Lily peered into the book he was holding.

"Maligno Geminus? That's all?" Lucy had joined her friend in viewing the damp, molding pages.

"It's harder than it sounds," Remus told her, stepping out of the shadows. "We tried a few before you got here. Look: Maligno Geminus!" the butterbeer cap he had pointed at split into two identical shapes, but when Remus picked it up, it disintegrated.

"It's very difficult to get the object to take on the same texture and quality of its original prototype," Sirius told them. He tried the charm on a lost handkerchief; the piece of cloth doubled, but it was very stiff, and did not move like fabric.

The five first-years tried and tried, but it was incredibly difficult. Lily presumed that this was probably a good thing; it wouldn't do for an illegal charm to be too simple. Finally, after nearly two hours had passed, the glass inkbottle Lily was duplicating did not take on the texture of paper. It felt smooth and glass-like, just like the original. Hesitantly, hoping that she had done it right, Lily smashed the bottle on the desk. It split into millions of pieces, all as sharp as glass, she found out after a few lodged themselves in her skin.

The other first-years looked up when they heard the crash.

"I did it!" Lily exclaimed happily.

"Brilliant..." Remus spoke, as he examined the glittering slivers of glass.

After Lily's success, it was not long before Sirius' charms began to work, then Remus', then Lucy's, and finally Alice was able to perfectly double her Gobstone.

"Wonderful...we're ready to start on the shirts!" Lily exclaimed after even Alice had made at least five perfect copies of the object she was working on. "Maybe it would be best if a few of us made more shirts, while the others enlarged or shrunk them. That way, we'll have different sizes. After all, I rather doubt that there are many other students as small as me," she looked at the extra-small shirt.

"Another brilliant idea," Sirius said happily. "I'll work on shirts. Remus, why don't you and Alice and Lucy size them, and Lily can help me."

"Sounds like a plan."

Now that they had the hang of the charm, things went a lot faster. Soon there were over thirty shirts, all in different sizes thanks to the aptitude of the Engorgement charms of Remus, who had taught Lucy and Alice the spell as well. Sirius was about to hold out his wand, to perform the umpteenth spell, when Lily held her hand out to stop him.

"Wait - we have to store these somewhere, remember? If there are too many, there isn't any way we can keep them without notice."

So the five students stopped, and surveyed their work. There were three different sizes; small, medium, and large, as well as one or two of Lily's size. Each shirt was quite well done; Lily was glad that the person they had picked to help them was one of the smartest in the year, not even second to James.

"Well done, Madam Evil," Sirius told Lily as he too looked over what they had done.

Lily whirled.

"Wait, you still think I'm 'evil'?" she asked angrily.

"'Course I do...who doesn't? I am an avid supporter of First Years Who Are Able To Do More Damage Than Fully Grown Wizards," the tall boy said, grinning. "More commonly known as FYWAATDMDTFGW." He said this all very fast.

Lily looked at him; she couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"But I don't mind...Potter may completely hate the dark arts and anyone they could possibly exist in, but I'm willing to form an alliance with evil people if it means bringing down the Hurler."

"Don't listen to him, Lily," Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius has the wonderful talent of dramatics."

"Sounds like someone else I know," Lily glanced in Lucy's direction. The tall girl grinned.

"And he doesn't think you're evil at all," Remus continued.

"Yes, I do!" Sirius seemed very offended that his friend had said such a thing. "I think you might be evil too...what was with the disappearing thing, right after Lily was accused of being a dark witch?"

"I told you, my grandmother is ill," Remus said quietly, scuffing his foot on the floor. "Look, I really don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Sirius exclaimed, pretending to be offended. He was about to speak again when a noise in the corridor caused everyone in the small room to fall silent.

"Shoot," Sirius muttered. "We've been here for three hours, of course someone was going to come looking for us..."

"Shuddup," Remus told him. He had crept forward and was pressing his ear to the door, listening to the voices in the hall. After a few moments, he walked back to the cluster of apprehensive students. He looked meaningfully at Sirius. "It's them."

"Damn," the tall boy looked worried. He surveyed the room, as though it would contain the answer to their problems. Strangely enough, a grin spread over his face.

Lily was confused; who was them, and what was going on? She opened her mouth to express her confusion, but Sirius shook his head at her, still smiling. Then he turned to Lucy.

"You're an actress?" he asked her.

"Might be," she told him, fluttering her eyelashes alluringly in his direction. Sirius' grin grew.

"Perfect."

"Sirius, what are you on about now?" Remus asked him, nervously glancing to the door.

"Never mind that," Sirius waved him away. "You, Lily, and Alice, go sit in that closet. Take the shirts and the book; be sure to lock the door. Lucy and I will take care of them.

"Wait - what is going on?" Lily asked.

"Never mind," Sirius waved her away. "Go in the closet, we'll deal with it."

"Deal with what?"

"The people in the corridor," Sirius explained, as though saying that one and one made two.

"But who -"

"Never mind," Remus spoke this time.

He picked up many of the shelves; Lily followed suit, though angrily. She wanted to know what was happening! Alice snatched up the book, and the three students clambered in to the tiny, dusty closet. They were not a moment too soon; there was a shouted 'Alohomora!' and the door to the unused classroom crashed open.

Lily recognized the voice that spoke a few moments later.

"Sirius? What are you doing?" James Potter yelled. Though Lily couldn't see him, she was sure that he was very mad.

"What?" Sirius yelped. "What are you - what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you! And here you are - doing - doing -"

There was a giggle Lily recognized as Lucy's.

"Did you hear nothing of what I said this morning, James? I have a thing for the bad girls...and apparently they like me too!" Sirius laughed, and Lily heard Lucy giggle again.

"B-but, but after what happened to you last time, you still did this? That's crazy, Sirius, crazy," James shook his head as though he refused to believe what his friend was saying. "She's going to attack you, just like her friend did!"

"Clearly, Jamie, someone isn't being truthful," another unwelcome voice came in.

"What are you imply -" Sirius was interrupted when Lucy's voice rang out.

"Impedi -" but she didn't finish, because James bellowed,

"Petrificus Totalus!" There was a faint crashing noise, and Lily felt sorry for her friend.

"What did I tell you?" James' exasperated voice rang out, now at normal volume.

"You're right," Sirius said, in the exact same tone he had used in the morning. "When will I learn, eh?"

"There's only one left, and she's fat and ugly, so Sirius wouldn't bother with her," Hana spoke again. Lily had to breathe in deep, focused bursts to control herself from leaping out of the closet door and strangling the girl with her bare hands.

"Well, that's a good thing, I suppose," Sirius said cheerfully. "Let's just leave her here, that way no one will think we were associating with her sort of filth."

"Smart...particularly for you!" James told him. "If people found out you were with another one, you might be kicked out of Gryffindor's popular crowd!"

"Think how awful that would be," Sirius spoke. James seemed to miss the sarcasm.

"Yeah. So, have you seen Remus lately? I was wondering where he went, after the Dungbomb fiasco," James' voice was growing fainter.

"Probably in the library again," Sirius stated. Lily could tell he was rolling his eyes. "Shall we go check?" His last words were very faint, and soon the sounds of three sets of footsteps had faded away.

Lily stepped out of the closed and hurried over to Lucy, who was as stiff as a board. A swift incantation revived the girl, who stood up and stretched.

Once Lucy had been taken care of, Lily glanced over at Alice, worried as to how the girl had reacted to Hana's cold, heartless words. Sure enough, tears were cascading silently down her face. Remus, as though unsure of what to do, patted her lightly on the shoulder.

"I'll take care of this," Lucy told him. She led Alice off to the corner and began speaking to her softly.

"Remus, they are going to be looking for you," Lily told him after a few more moments of silence.

"Oh - yeah - right, I'd better be going," the rather peaky-looking boy backed away.

"Wait -" Lily continued. "Sirius is the one who would be storing these..." she indicated the shirts, "but he just left. How do you imagine he wants to keep them?"

"Um...well, I guess we could leave them in the closet. When I see him, I'll tell him what we did with them."

"Great," Lily smiled at him as he left the room. Then she turned back to her friends.

"Don't worry, Alice, pretty soon that Suzuki girl is going to get a nice, hard, kick in the -" Lucy was saying.

"Don't curse," Alice reprimanded.

"I didn't!"

"You were going to."

"You know me far too well," Lucy decided. The two girls laughed. Lily was glad to see that Alice seemed to be feeling much better.

Lily yawned.

"I'm exhausted," she told them. "I really need to get some more sleep...and I've got that detention tomorrow morning. I think I'll have to say good night now. It's almost time for dinner, anyway, so you could go eat."

"Marvelous idea. Lily, we'll see you later!" Lucy agreed.

"Lily - even if you do see Leanna or Hana -"

"- the Anna Bananas," Lucy translated, as though her friend were speaking a language Lily couldn't understand.

"Yes, them. If you do see the Anna Bananas, don't do anything rash! I can handle myself, and you mustn't lose your temper!"

"Don't worry, I won't," Lily assured her friends. She wished that she knew this was true.

But, perhaps very luckily, Lily met no one on her way to the dorm. The common room was still empty from the stench of the Dungbombs that had been unleashed there, so most people were either in their dorms or in other parts of the castle. Lily stepped into her room, changed almost deliriously, and was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

The weekend passed quickly; Lily's detention on Saturday passed especially hurriedly, for it was great fun to reshelf books. The librarian's assistant, Madam Austere, had taken over for the normal librarian, a Madam Pince who, apparently, had a very nasty case of 'Bugbear Flu.' Austere fit her name perfectly, but if Lily managed to ignore her rigid, strict structuring, the detention proved great fun. Lily saw hundreds of titles she knew she would need to come back for, and by the time the supper bell rang, Lily had checked out five new books to read. Thus she spent the rest of the weekend: reading. Alice and Lucy involved themselves in other leisure activities, and Lily did not see or hear from Sirius in any way other than viewing him lounging at the opposite end of the common room.

But she had hope, nonetheless, that he would be successful. Sunday evening, she went down to the unused classroom to see if the shirts were still there; luckily, she presumed, they had been moved. For a fleeting moment she thought that maybe someone else - Hurley, or Hana? - had found them, but she quenched this thought quickly. It would not do to worry too much about how the plan would go. It was not in her hands now.

When she returned to the common room, Lily saw a large cluster of first-years next to the notice board. Curious, she walked over to join them. By the time Lily was close enough to read the sign posted there, everyone had left; they did not want to stand next to her. The redhead turned toward a large, purple piece of paper, which read:

FLYING LESSONS!

Required of all first-years

This Tuesday, at four P.M.

Flying lessons? This sounded interesting. Lily thought back to the broom she had seen in Quality Quidditch Supplies, and the window that depicted the scene of what McGonagall had called Quidditch. It was interesting, she thought, that magical people actually did ride broomsticks; they were not some figment of Muggle imagination. After staring inquisitively at the notice, Lily went over to join Alice and Lucy in their corner.

"So, flying?" she asked as she plopped onto the window seat.

"Oh, it's great fun!" Lucy exclaimed. "I love Quidditch - best sport in the world, I play my little brother all the time.

"Easy for you to say," Alice told her. "Broomsticks don't like me much."

"They're alive?" Lily asked, astounded. She really needed to stop thinking that anything wasn't possible in the magical world.

"No, silly," Lucy cuffed the redhead playfully on the shoulder.

"I don't know," Alice took a more optimistic view. "I mean, they can tell if you're nervous. Kind of like a horse. Lily, have you ever been horseback riding?"

"Yeah, my mum's parents own a farm of sorts," Lily told her.

"Oh, how wonderful! My parents own a magical ranch. I mean, my mum works at the ministry, but my dad works on the ranch, as do my brothers and some hired hands. One of my brothers is a squib, but he can still help a lot."

"Squib?"

"Like the opposite of a muggle-born witch...a wizard-born muggle, but they are pretty unusual. Gerald is kind of a family outcast because of this, but my dad and I are nice to him, he's a great person. Anyway, if you've ridden a horse you know that the animal can sense your feelings. Brooms are the same, to some extent, though much less so; after all, pieces of wood could never be very good imitations of living animals."

"Oh..." Lily acknowledged what her friend had said, but now her thoughts were elsewhere.

Lily didn't feel so anxious to learn to fly anymore. The only times she had been on a horse had definitely not been very successful. Nervous at being on such large animals, the five-year-old Lily had panicked and probably would have broken her neck getting bucked off of the horse if her grandfather hadn't caught her. When she was eight, Lily, still terrified of horses from what had happened three years before, consented to get on another horse. Unfortunately, that time she had been told to ride the most temperamental horse. The improperly named Sparkle had thrown her immediately, and she still had a scar on her ankle from where the barbed-wire fence had snagged her.

If brooms were anything like horses, Lily didn't have any desire to ride one. She smiled nervously at her friends and turned back to her spellbook, but her eyes did not move and she did not turn the page for the rest of the night.

Of course, whenever one is dreading something, it always seems to come much faster. Monday could as well have not existed, for all that Lily remembered of it. Tuesday passed equally quickly. Lily was so inattentive in Herbology that she accidentally chopped off a large, healthy branch of the bonsai she was trimming. Though still worried of what might happen on her broomstick, Lily was glad when Herbology ended. Her distractions had lost her enough points to give her a 94 on the day's lesson, her worst grade yet.

Lily tried to calm her nerves as she and the Gryffindors went up to the common room for the time before the lesson. But in no time at all, it was three forty-five and Lily was standing next to an old, bedraggled wooden broom. She didn't even remember entering and leaving the castle.

"Hello there, aspiring Quidditch players! My name is Sir Thomas Dasting, and I played Quidditch for Italy, years ago. I was the best and most handsome Keeper the team ever had! Women would call me Sir Dashing..." he trailed off, looking sad. Maybe once he had been good-looking, but now wrinkles surrounded his eyes and his hair was thick and gray-streaked. "Alright, put your hands over your brooms and shout 'UP!'" The Quidditch referee told them, shaking his heavy hair from his eyes.

Lily took a deep breath and said, "Up!"

But her voice sounded timid and choked, and her broomstick did not respond. A few more tries proved fruitless, so she looked around at the other students. James Potter had been successful right away. It did not take long for Sirius, whom he was talking to, to follow suit. Lucy was also one of the few to pick her broom up so quickly. Alice, like Lily, was having difficulties; the broom she had picked seemed to be inclined to roll around on the floor rather than listen to Alice's commanding voice. Leanna's broom did not seem to want to follow her instructions either, and Hana's voice was too frightened to encourage her broom's movement. This sight sparked new encouragement into Lily. She turned back to her own broom and said "Up!" very carefully. The broom jumped into the air and floated into her halfway clasped fist. She smiled happily; maybe this wouldn't be as awful as she'd thought!

This confidence soon proved to be completely unfounded.

When the first-years attempted the simple drill of pushing off of the ground, Lily lost her balance and fell off of the broom from about a meter. The only thing hurt was her pride, but it particularly angered her when Hana, who had finally gripped her broom, sailed gracefully up into the air and landed next to James. He hugged her, glad that she had done so well. (He had soared into the air, dove straight at the ground, and managed to pull himself right just in time, all at enviable speed, considering the less-than-wonderful quality of school brooms.) Lucy was also very successful in her pursuits, and once Alice's broom would allow her to mount it, she wasn't all that bad.

Lily also managed to completely embarrass herself in the next drill; each student picked a partner and had to toss a large, red ball between each other while hovering a couple meters above the ground. Alice and Lucy had partnered each other, so Lily was stuck with someone she really didn't want to see at the moment: Severus Snape. He was just as awful as she was, but he thought he was good; he would attempt long-winded dives in which he would crash into the ground or someone else's broom, or he might try to catch with his hand behind his back, hereby dropping the ball or not even touching it in the first place.

Lily tried not to pay too much attention to his annoying actions; she was too busy trying not to fall off of her broom. However, she might as well not have bothered at all, for she landed on the grass so many times that the plants below her broom was indented.

James and Sirius were very good, or at least James was: The tousle-headed boy would do all of Severus' antics and more, with one main difference: he could pull them off. Sirius' skills weren't noteworthy, but the excellence of his partner made him look as though he were a good deal better than he was. Lucy and Alice were good too, for the same reasons: Lucy had talent, and she made Alice look better. Lily was happy to note that neither Leanna nor Hana could do very much. Remus Lupin, who was partnering Peter Pettigrew, looked as though he would rather be reading. Peter was too busy watching James to pay any attention to his partner.

By the time the lesson finally ended, Lily sported even more bruises. She left the lesson quickly, wanting to leave before James and Hana could swoop down on her about how her associations with Snape just proved how evil she was. She retreated to the corner by the fireplace, waiting for her friends to return.

"Wow, that was fun!" Lucy exclaimed as she sat down. "Great job, eh Alice? We make a damn good team!"

"Don't curse," Alice told her, but she was grinning.

"So, Lil, have fun?" Lucy had turned toward the redhead.

"Yes, I had a simply marvelous time!" Lily said sarcastically. "I made a complete fool of myself, and I had to partner someone who can't play worth anything and who keeps muttering 'Mudblood' when he looks at me. Yes, I had a fabulous time."

"Aw...it'll be better next time, though," Alice reassured her.

"I don't think I'll go...the first class is all that's required and I did not have fun!" Lily told her angrily.

"Suit yourself," Lucy told her, entirely blasé. "I'm going to try out for the Gryffindor team!"

"Oh, wow!" Alice exclaimed. "That's great! What position?"

"Ah, they all sound like fun," Lucy told her. "Keeper would be the best, but I wouldn't mind Chaser, or Beater..."

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, her anger ebbing with her curiosity.

"Quidditch," Lucy told her, launching off into a long explanation of the sport. But Lily discovered she already knew about it; this was the sport that had been depicted on the window during the seminar!

"I already know what it is," Lily told them. "But which player is which?"

"Beaters have clubs to beat away Bludgers, Keepers guard goals, Chasers score goals with the Quaffle, and Seekers look for the Snitch," Lucy told her bluntly. Lily was surprised to say that she understood completely.

"But first-years never get on the house teams!" Alice spoke once Lucy was done explaining. "And neither do girls, not since Dasting has been here. He doesn't think girls can play."

"That's ridiculous! Girls aren't allowed to play on the teams?" Lily burst out.

"No, they are. Always have been, actually, it's the better side of having a co-educational founding staff. Calliope de Forte of the 1700s was amazing...best seeker ever at Hogwarts. But it's always been frowned upon. We're better in our Home Wizardry classes," Alice told her matter-of-factly, though there was a bitter note to her voice. "But Dasting, the past twenty years he's been here, has watched tryouts, and made sure that all of the halfway decent boys are on the team before they so much as consider even the most fabulous girls. The same is true about anyone under fifth year. It means that all of the teams are a lot worse...it's crazy how few Hogwarts students have made national teams since he's been here. I mean, sure, some have, but the ratio is horrible compared to what it used to be. Students play better when they are on better teams, even if some people are too slow to recognize that."

"Well, I want to prove them wrong!" Lucy said enthusiastically. "I'll be the first girl in nearly twenty years, and the first first-year in nearly seventy, to make it on a house team!"

"I hope you make it," Lily told her. "Sexual and age-related discrimination is totally pointless. It would be great if you showed them that Potter twins aren't the only people who will make it."

"Talking about Jamesie, are you?" an additional voice asked them.

"Sirius, what are you doing over here? And where are you?" Lucy paused the Quidditch conversation.

"Nicked Potter's cloak again," he answered.

"He's going to catch you..." Lily said worriedly.

"Nah, he won't. He's too busy telling her about Quidditch."

"If you're sure," Alice still looked nervous.

"Positive," was the cheerful reply.

"So, how is the project coming?" Lily asked quietly.

"Good, good. I've gotten a number of people to take the shirts...notes in class, whispers in hallways. I've got connections, see, so I know lots of people," he said again, a fake proud note in his voice. "One of the better sides of being best friends with Gryffindor's most popular first-year."

"You don't know how weird it is to hear you talk when you aren't there," Lucy told him.

"Oh, you'll get used to it."

"We need to try to get some into Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw..." Lily told him. "It will look too suspicious if the only people who have them are in Gryffindor."

"Way ahead of you. Half the people that have them are in Ravenclaw alone, and lots of Huffles seemed interested. I even roped in two Slytherins! I've only got three shirts left, we're doing great."

"Wonderful," Lily exclaimed. "And if we want Hurley to notice them, we've got to tell people to be very obvious about the fact that they're wearing shirts. You know, forget to put your robes on until you are in class, tear them so that the writing shows through, wear robes with deep necklines..."

"Brilliant. Well, I'm off to consort with the nobles of Gryffindor...farewell, pleasant peasants!" A swish of his cloak was the only signification of the fact that he was gone.

Wednesday, as usual, was a quick-moving day. The presence of only two classes gave the first-year students large amounts of free time. Lily, who hadn't gotten up until nine thirty because she had no first-period class, felt well rested and happy all through Potions. They were chopping up mint leaves, and though this was very easy and perhaps tedious, Lily's good mood was not quenched. The indentation of the bleeding skull on her cheek was now all but gone, and to make her feel even better, James and Hana began bickering quite loudly at the front of the room.

"Isn't this class wonderful?" Hana's voice floated across the chopping of knives.

"I suppose it is, if you don't want to do anything," James replied.

"She's just preparing us for real potion-making," Hana's normally quiet, sullen voice rose into a high-pitched shrill.

"What, the Shrinking Solutions seventh-years are making? That's a third year potion, I don't know what Dulcissa thinks she's doing!"

"She's making sure we can do it right! This way, we'll be ready to fly when she lets us loose!"

"Oh, not that bloody mother bird stuff! I'm sure I'd 'fly' a whole lot better if I were to 'leave the nest' on my own!"

"It was a thrilling metaphor! If you weren't so absorbed with that stupid Quidditch sport, you would appreciate language and its magic!"

"Quidditch isn't stupid!!" this was the angriest Lily had ever seen him. "Ha...what Dulcissa says is not language! And what do you know about it, you hardly say a word!"

"A word not wasted means more than many words that are!" Hana was near shouting now.

"Then get back to me when you learn not to waste so much!"

Hana did not speak to him for the rest of the class.

Strangely enough, their little argument only improved Lily's mood.

Lunch was a pleasant affair, and Charms was great fun. Professor Flitwick was no longer frightened of Lily, which was a very good thing. After Charms, in which Lily had stayed behind to ask Flitwick about one of the later chapters in the textbook, Lily caught up with her friends.

"So, is there anything planned for this afternoon?"

"Lucy's trying out for Quidditch, and I though I'd go watch," Alice answered, smiling.

"Oh, I'd love to come too!" Lily exclaimed.

"Great! You'll see me wipe the floor with those second-rate second-years!" Lucy yelled, earning herself some nasty glares from a pair of twelve-year-old Ravenclaw girls.

"So, when do the tryouts start?" Lily asked after the corridor was empty again.

"The Captain posted a message on Monday..." Lucy squinted her eyes, trying to remember. "Five o'clock, I think. They've got a Chaser position available, as well as Keeper, which is great because those are the two positions I'm best at!"

She then went into very long, exaggerated details of her successes in the sport, most of which were very intricate and descriptive. Just a few of these were more than enough to get the three girls to their corner of the common room, but they went on and on long after this. Much as Lily supported her enthused friend, she and Alice were both quite bored of Lucy's speeches. After what seemed like - and very possibly was - fifteen such descriptions, Lily decided she'd had enough.

"...and then, if you'll believe this, I shot the Quaffle all the way across the pitch and scored through the middle hoop! And that was against Danny Roughshot, best keeper nearby! Course, after that, he had to relinquish his title to me..."

"Luce, in the kindest of intentions, you're driving us up a wall," Lily interrupted.

"Sorry...just nervous..." Lucy grinned, then leapt off of her chair to spend the next few minutes in a headstand.

"She's got a funny way of showing nerves," Alice laughed, once ten minutes had passed. "Lucy, we'd better get down to the pitch, it's four-forty."

The blonde girl gave a start and checked her own watch, but she lost her balance in the process and her legs nearly kicked Alice in the mouth.

"Oops, sorry, Alice," Lucy said as she sprinted out of the portrait hole. Lily and Alice followed.

Before long, the three girls were jogging out onto the Quidditch field. It was an oval box, the bottom covered in grass and the longer ends stopping in sets of three hoops. Colorfully decorated stands surrounded the area.

At the moment, a large cluster of people was standing at one end. Lucy sprinted over and her friends followed at a more leisured rate. Lily was excited to see a Quidditch match, but she was also nervous - what if they wouldn't let Lucy play, just because she was a girl? Would the optimistic girl be able to handle the unfair rejection?

"Did you need something, girls?" A tall, bronze-skinned boy with a Spanish-sounding accent whirled around at the sound of their approaching footsteps.

"I'm here to try out for the position of...Keeper...on Gryffindor team!" Lily exclaimed buoyantly, her braids swinging as she spoke.

"And we're just here to watch the tryouts," Lily explained.

"You're free to watch, go over there," the boy indicated the stands where a number of people were sitting.

He was beginning to look curiously at Lily, as though he recognized her from somewhere. He was a seventh year, so Lily supposed he very well might not have been present for what had occurred in the common room over a week ago, but if he looked at her for too long he might start to realize who she was. She and Alice chose seats in the back, and watched the people displayed on the ground.

"Okay, niños, I suppose that is all who are going to arrive, no?" the Captain spoke after a few moments. "Keepers over here, Chasers over here." There was slight confusion as everyone organized himself or herself. "I am Michel Vasquez, Beater and Captain of the Gryffindor team. Welcome to our tryouts. From the bulletin posted, I am sure that you all know that Chaser and Keeper positions are available. But if we see anything from another position that we consider particularly noteworthy, you may be accepted onto the reserve portion of our team. Now, first-years, it is very difficult to get onto the team if you are as young as eleven. Has not been done since before the turn of the century, comprende? So do not be alarmed if you do not have what it takes to join us."

"Yes, thanks for the introduction, Vasquez!" Sir Dasting stood up. "Now, the way that we have the teams try out is thus: first every charming lad who wants a position takes his shot, then the girls! We have so few places open that we are just going to have you take shots like this: the team," he indicated the five tall, burly boys, "will take one keeper and one chase up into the air. You try out, then we will pick the best."

Michel stepped forward again; he seemed rather annoyed that the referee had taken over for him.

"Yes - well, come on, you, and you." He pointed to two fifth year boys, and threw them each a broomstick. Then the tryouts began.

It was very bizarre to watch; night was falling, and of what Lily could see, one of the selected students would try to score, while the other attempted to block. Perhaps it was just Lily, but it seemed that the people trying out were incredibly awful; almost every Chaser dropped the Quaffle over and over, and each Keeper was lucky if he caught one ball. The group of boys diminished and diminished until the only person left was -

"What's your name?" Michel asked the remaining boy when the team landed on the ground.

"Potter. James Potter," the tousle-headed first-year spoke as though he were a secret agent.

"You're just a first-year, you can try out with the girls," Sir Dasting told him, snorting rather obviously as he surveyed James' lack of height and weight.

"Er, yeah," Michel didn't really have a choice.

He began to select some of the girls, and Lily was happy to see that a number of them did very well. One girl's broomstick was so ancient that a good portion of the handle came off. She used this to hit the Quaffle in as a spectacular goal. Lily wondered why they didn't make her a reserve beater on the spot; she was fantastic. Nafeesah Andrabi, whom Lily had met on the second day of school, was a fabulous Chaser, but no one was any more impressed by her than they had been by the beater-girl. Finally, the only people left were James and Lucy.

"Okay, first-years, you can give it a try...we're running ahead of schedule, otherwise we wouldn't bother..." Dasting spoke cheerfully, cutting off Michel's open mouth.

The two first years rose into the air on their brooms. Despite the fact that they were both riding ancient school property, both flew very well. Lucy sailed up to the goalposts and took her place, hovering in the middle of the second hoop. James and the other Chasers flew in. James, arrogant as he was, seemed determined to show teamwork, so he passed the ball to one of the other Chasers. However, the large blonde boy, who was laughing with his position-mate, watched the Quaffle sail almost directly through his arms. James went into a spectacular dive and saved the gently floating Quaffle, though Lily could tell, even through the dark night, that he was burning with humiliation. The small boy then sailed up in front of Lucy and shot an incredibly fast ball at the right post. The girl caught it deftly and threw the ball out into the night; Potter caught it again and aimed for the right post this time - Lucy saved it.

They continued this process for a number of minutes; each student was very good. It was not until James finally scored a goal on Lucy - her broom wasn't fast enough to save it - that the Captain came to attention enough to tell them that what they had done was sufficient. Both first-years sailed to the ground, looking pleased with themselves. Much as Lily knew that neither needed an ego-boost, they had done very well. She caught Lucy's eye and grinned at her. Even though Lucy was a first-year and a girl, there was no way she wouldn't make the team.

"All right...marvelous tryouts, men!" Dasting bellowed. "Michel...a conference, if you please?"

Lily was sure it would be much less of a conference and more of Dasting telling Michel whom to pick. She and everyone else waited with baited breath, sure that they knew what was coming...

"All right, everyone, we have decided who will be the new members of the Gryffindor team. As Chaser: Evan Bullwinkle. As Keeper: Joseph Harris. We saw no one worthy of being a reserve. Thank you to everyone who tried out. Buenas noches!"

He turned back to his team, which now included two more large boys. Those who had not been accepted onto the team walked away slowly, grumbling. When Lily stood up, she could barely feel her limbs, or hear the chatter that filled the night. A pounding in her temples refused to cease, and it felt as though each limb was completely numb. How could they? The two boys they had picked had been decent, but were nothing compared to some of the girls who had tried out! She almost understood that they didn't want to accept first-years; it would be breaking a tradition. But Nafeesah had been marvelous...even if they were too stubborn to take the best people who had tried out - James and Lucy among them.

Lily and Alice walked down the aisle of stairs to greet their friend.

"Um, Lucy? Are you okay?" Lily asked after a few minutes.

"Of course I'm okay!" The blonde replied in a forced voice. A horrible smile had stretched across her unusually red countenance. "Why wouldn't I be? I knew I wouldn't get on the team...they never accept first-years!" she smiled brightly at her friends. "They weren't even paying attention during the try-outs. But that's fine, I expected it! No big deal. Gee, I'm really hungry - you want to go up to the Great Hall and see what they have left from dinner?"

"Luce...it's fine if you want to talk about it...we understand...what happened back there was completely uncalled for..." Alice leapt forward to walk with her friend.

"No, you know what Alice? I really don't want to talk about it. It was what I should have expected, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. It isn't important. No big deal. Please, can we get some food?" Lucy picked up her pace even more.

"Lucy -" Alice reached forward and grabbed her friend's arm.

"Alice! Why aren't you listening to me! I said I don't want to talk about it! God, don't you know when to drop it?" Lucy's cheeks now sported large spots of color, and her eyes flashed in the light from the torches at the Quidditch field. "I've told you over and over, it's not important! No big deal! I didn't do well enough up there to draw anyone's attention, I don't deserve the team! Would you stop pestering me, and let go of my damn arm! I don't care, I don't want to talk about it, and if you were a real friend you would drop the subject!" She was shouting by now, spots of color as bright as ever. Her eyes, though still flashing, swelled and a few tears spilled out of them.

"Oh, Luce," Alice moved forward as though to hug her.

"Get away from me!" Lucy yelled, more tears spilling down her colored cheeks. "I told you, I'm fine! I'm great, just dandy! Now leave me alone!" She threw Alice's comforting arm from her shoulder and ran off to the castle.

"See, that's why girls never make the teams," Sir Dasting said cheerfully as he walked past Lily and Alice, who were both still staring after their friend. "Too darn emotional! Good night, ladies!"

Alice had to grab both of Lily's arms to prevent her from tackling the Quidditch referee. She didn't let go until Dasting was completely gone.

Neither girl moved for a while after this, however. Both were thinking about the expression on Lucy's face; it was the first and last time that they would ever see her cry.