Not Your Average Quidditch Fan

Tap. Tap. Tap. Lily looked over the top of her morning paper and out the front window to see a huge brown owl tapping against the glass. With a sigh, she set down the paper, walked to the window and opened it. The owl glided in and landed on the back of her sofa. Hooting softly, it dropped a small roll of parchment into her hand. "Thank you," Lily said, "Hold on while I get my moneybag." She left the room quickly and the owl preened her feathers as she waited. A few moments later, Lily returned, moneybag in hand. She rummaged through it to find the appropriate change and placed it in the bag around the owl's neck. With one last hoot, the owl took off through the window, disappearing into the clear morning sky.

Sitting down on the sofa, Lily opened the parchment and began reading her letter. Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. Clutching the letter tightly she ran down the hall to the door of her friend's bedroom. "Bella, wake up!" she called. No answer. "Bella! Arabella! Get up!" Still no answer. Exasperated, she threw open the door. Rushing to the bed, she yanked the covers off her sleeping flat-mate and yelled, "Arabella Figg wake up this instant!"

With a groan, Arabella sat up and slowly opened her ice blue eyes. "Alright, alright, Lils. I'm awake. Happy?"

"Read this," Lily said and shoved the letter in her face.

Taking the letter, Arabella leaned back against the pillows and started to read it. "Oh. My. God." She gasped, "No way. Lils, we won! We won!" With a cry of joy, she sprang out of bed, grabbed Lily by the waist and danced ecstatically around the room, both of them shouting for joy.

"Isn't it great?" Lily asked, when she could breathe again, "We're actually going to the Quidditch World Cup! Think of all the awesome plays we'll see! And all the souvenirs!"

Grinning mischieviously, Arabella replied, "Actually, Lils dear, it was the players I was looking forward to seeing. Especially that Chaser for the Falmouth Falcons. What was his name again?"

"Oh you mean James Potter? He's the best Chaser I've seen in years!"

"And the best looking."

Lily sighed and shook her head. "That's all you care about isn't it, Bella?"

"But of course!" Arabella replied.

"Whatever. When do we get the tickets?"

"Lemme check." She sat down on her bed and read the letter all the way throught. "Wow Lils," she breathed, "Listen to this, 'After the game, you will receive a private dinner with Quidditch-Star James Potter, courtesty of the IAQ.' IAQ? What's that?"

"Gosh, Bella, don't you know anything about Quidditch? IAQ stands for International Association of Quidditch. They're the ones who sponsored the contest."

"Oh ok," Arabella said offhandedly. She stared off into space, "We get to eat dinner with James Potter. Boy are we lucky." Leaping off the bed, she grabbed Lily's hand. "C'mon, Lils. We've gotta go shopping! Nothing but the best for Mr. James Potter, you know. This is the chance of a lifetime!"

Rolling her eyes, Lily followed her into the hallway and out the door. Little did she know how right Arabella's word would prove to be.