Wizarding Betrothal

Chapter 16: Competitive Gryffindors

Opening her eyes, Lily watched as Benjamin dipped his fingertip back into the jar of red paint.

"Other side," he said. She turned her right cheek towards him, closing her eyes again.

It was breakfast time in the Great Hall, and Lily was straddling one of the benches while Benjamin painted battle stripes on her face. Preparing for a Gryffindor Quidditch match was always serious business. He traced two lines across her cheekbone, and Lily shivered when he blew on the wet paint.

"Sure you don't want one down your nose?" Benjamin asked.

"No thanks." Lily opened her eyes and saw him grinning as he held up his paint-covered finger threateningly.

"How about a dot on your chin?"

She giggled and leaned backwards as he reached out for her face.

"Or, I could paint 'Lily loves Benji' across your forehead."

Lily squealed and jumped off of the bench to get away. She wouldn't put it past him to do something like that!

Laughing, Benjamin capped the jar and tossed it across the table to Josiah. "I'm unarmed, Lily. See?" He wiped off his hands and held them up in surrender. "You can sit back down."

"Actually," Josiah said, getting up from his seat, "it's time to head out to the pitch. Marcus won't be able to save us a whole row much longer." The crowd in Great Hall was thinning out; most of the student body was already making its way out to the stands.

"Miss. Evans," a voice called. Lily turned to see Professor McGonagall striding towards her. "Would you please follow me, dear?"

"Now?" Lily was horrified. Surely McGonagall wasn't cruel enough to make her miss the Quidditch match! "But there's a game!"

"Yes, now."

Lily looked across the table at Laura, who seemed to be just as confused as Lily was. Was she in trouble? They had been really good lately! She sighed in resignation and followed McGonagall towards the front of the Hall. "I'll see you guys later," Lily said.

"We have a special guest at Hogwarts today," the professor told her. "I expect your conduct today to reflect well on Gryffindor."

"Yes, ma'am." What was she talking about?

They were standing in front of a door to the right of the staff table, and Professor McGonagall motioned for her to enter. Lily slipped inside and looked around. It was some kind of sitting room, and she saw Headmaster Dumbledore standing by the fire chatting with...could it be?

"James?"

James turned around and smiled at her. "Hi, Lily!"

"Miss. Evans! Good morning," Dumbledore said. "I trust you know Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Excellent! He seems to need a student guide today while he is visiting the castle. I hope you don't mind, but I thought you would be up for the task." Lily nodded mutely, and Dumbledore grinned, turning back to James. "If there's nothing else, James, I must be off."

"It was good to see you again, Professor."

"Likewise, my boy. And stop by my office on your way out. I'll go over those plans with you."

"Thank you, Sir."

When Dumbledore left the room, James walked over to Lily and hugged her to his chest. "Nice war paint," he whispered.

Lily had forgotten about her painted face; she had to look completely stupid. "There's a Quidditch match this morning," she explained.

"I know. I told you I might come to a game." Lily felt a pang of embarrassment; that had completely slipped her mind.

Stepping back out of his embrace, she looked up at him. "I didn't know you were coming for sure."

James shrugged and raked his fingers through his hair. "I wanted to surprise you."

"You did that."

"Good surprised?" he asked hopefully.

Lily could see him crossing his fingers, and she laughed. "Yes. Good surprised."

Grinning, James opened the door leading back out to the Great Hall. "Come on, Lily. Let's go watch a little Quidditch."

"Sounds good to me."

"You still up for some tactical lessons?"

"Sure. I think I may be a lost cause though."

"Nah, I'll get you straightened out!"

As Lily led the way across the Great Hall, she paused when she saw a solitary figure standing up from the Gryffindor table. Benjamin was waiting for her.

"Hey, why aren't you at the game?" Lily asked, moving towards him.

"I thought I'd wait and make sure everything was okay. Prefect solidarity and all, you know." What a nut.

"Everything's fine," she said. "My friend just came in for the match this morning."

When Benjamin looked over at James, his eyes widened in recognition. "James Potter?"

"So they tell me." James extended his hand to Benjamin, who shook it with enthusiasm.

"Good to see you! I'm sure you don't remember me," Benjamin said. "I'm Benji Summers."

James dropped his hand as an odd look passed over his face. "Summers?"

"Yeah. I'm a Gryffindor. Same year as Lily."

"I know. I mean...I recognise your name."

Glancing at Lily, Benjamin smiled happily. "We should probably hurry up if we want to see the balls released," he suggested.

James placed a hand on Lily's back. "If you want," he told her, "we could sit in the top box. I was invited up there, and I'm sure I can get you in too. It's a good view." That was certainly tempting; Lily had never been in the top box before.

A quick glance in Benjamin's direction, however, dashed that thought to pieces. She had promised Benjamin that she would sit with him at the game, and he had noticeably been counting on it ever since. Squirming inside, Lily realised that James was not going to be terribly happy about it; he was expecting her to sit with him too. How did she get herself into such absurd fixes?

"Don't you want to sit in the stands with the other Gryffindors?" she asked. Maybe she could talk him into it. "It would be more fun than sitting with McGonagall up top. We're a lot more rowdy than she is."

James eyed her hesitantly and glanced at Benjamin. "It is more fun sitting with the fans. I guess we could try it."

Along with a few other stragglers, they made their way across the lawn towards the pitch, following one of many well-cleared paths through the snow. The late January air was bitter cold, and Lily was already glad that she had bundled up in her warmest robes. She still possessed James' leather jacket, and had thought about wearing it to the match. Boy, was she glad she didn't! It would have been so embarrassing if James had caught her with it on. At least he had never asked to have it back - it was way too cool.

Lily's fellow Gryffindors were a bit awed when James Potter walked up to their section of the stands with Benjamin and Lily. However, not the sort to be bashful, and quite keen to meet him, they welcomed James with gusto. Older Gryffindors, who had known James as a student, were coming up to say hello, and plucky little Zebulun Summers wiggled his way over to gush his enthusiasm, much to the annoyance of his brother.

"Hiya, James! You're James Potter aren't you! Wow! You're not nearly so tall as I expected you to be. I thought you'd be seven feet at least! You're a terrific Chaser! You know that?"

"Go away, Zeb," Benjamin interrupted.

Zebulun, however, wasn't listening. "I saw you play last summer in that game against the Caerphilly Catapults, where the ref called that foul against you for blatching..."

"Zeb! Go away!" Benjamin ordered again.

"...but I saw it all, that other Chaser totally set you up. She just wanted to get the penalty shot. I bet she bribed the ref or something. But you showed them didn't you James! You outscored them two to one!"

At that point, Benjamin was thoroughly irritated and began working his way over to Zebulun.

"That was amazing when you did that Woollongong Shimmy just before the Snitch was caught," Zebulun continued. "I never saw anybody do that before. It was completely brilliant! Do you...hey! Benji, stop it!"

In one practised move, Benjamin had hoisted his little brother up over his shoulder and was striding down the steps towards a grouping of first years. Dropping him onto a bench, Benjamin ordered him to "Stay put!" and "Watch the game!" and then jogged back up to his own spot between Lily and Josiah.

"Annoying little twit," he muttered.

"That's nothing," Lily said. "Just wait until Mary catches wind of him."

"Who's Mary?" James asked.

Benjamin just started laughing, leaving Lily to explain.

"Do you remember a long time ago when I told you about that poster of you that would always whistle and cat-call when I walked by?"

James nodded, colouring slightly.

"Well, that belongs to Mary Pritchard, she's this hyper little fourth year, and she's basically obsessed with you...and...oh, great. She's coming this way right now."

Sure enough, there she was. She had paused on the steps, while another girl was talking into her ear and pointing in James' direction. When Mary's eyes finally landed on James, she screamed, drawing the attention of the entire section, and then raced up into the stands in a very unladylike fashion.

"Oh, wow! I can't believe it! James Potter is here! At Hogwarts! It's like a dream come true! I totally can't believe it!" With that she threw himself onto him, shrieking with abandon.

Lily felt her stomach turn in revulsion as she watched the scene in front of her. The poor girl wasn't even coherent enough to notice how humiliated she ought to be.

"Help!" James choked out as he tried to detach his hysterical admirer without hurting her. Ever the gentleman...why didn't he just pitch her to the ground? He had stumbled back several feet, and was leaning against the railing while Mary's friends pawed uselessly at her arms in a feeble attempt to pull her away. Like that was going to do any good.

Sighing, Lily drew her wand. "Placo Incitationis," she called, sending a jet of light straight into the side of Mary's head. Lily pocketed her wand, congratulating herself on her excellent aim, and went to assess the damage. James gripped a very calm Mary by the shoulders, holding her out at arm length, while she swayed and sighed.

Mary's friends on the other hand, were gaping in horror. "What did you do to her? How could you curse another Gryffindor like that?"

"It was just a Calming Charm. Chill out, will you Eileen?" Lily looked Mary in the eye and saw that the girl was nearly asleep. "Maybe it was a little too strong, but it won't hurt her. Just take her to bed or something. It'll wear off after a while."

Handing Mary over to her friends, James sighed in relief and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Thank you, Lily," he said. "I believe you just saved my life."

"Oh please," she said. "You aren't really scared of a little girl, are you?"

"I'm scared of girls like that - all hyper and clingy and psychotic. You never know what they're capable of!"

"Luckily you have me to protect you."

"Yes," James said, "I'm very lucky indeed." He leaned in close to Lily's face and winked alluringly. A funny little flip-flop tingled in Lily's stomach, and a vivid memory of that time James had kissed her came to mind. She couldn't deny that he was awfully handsome...

"Hey, Lily," Benjamin called. "The game is starting!"

Tearing her gaze away from James' lips, Lily looked towards the pitch as the Quaffle soared upwards and the starting whistle sounded. A roar of cheers thundered around her when a red-clad flier was the first to take the ball.

"Come on, James!" Lily said, sliding back into the row. Benjamin handed over her sign, giving Lily and James both a funny look. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

Catching his breath, he shook his head and looked away. "Nothing." He was lying, but Lily didn't pursue it.

"What kind of sign do you have?" James asked, drawing her attention back to himself.

She raised it up to show him her handiwork. "Mine says 'Go Gryffindor!' and the others in this row have ones that support the individual fliers. But when we all hold our signs up at the same time, they'll scroll insults at Ravenclaw."

"That's pretty nifty."

"It was Benji's idea. I just helped with some of the painting and charm work."

"Lily! Pay attention!" someone shouted, and Lily looked up to see her friends raising their signs and booing. She jerked her sign up too, and blushed. She'd been too busy talking to notice that one of their Chasers had just been fouled.

"What did I miss," she asked Benjamin.

"Munch got called for cobbing LaBorde. And...YES! LaBorde made the penalty shot!" All around her, fans erupted into cheers as Gryffindor entered the lead, ten to zero. Laura, who was holding a sign (not to mention a torch) for Danny LaBorde, stood on the bench and did a little dance in celebration. The game was speeding along again in the blink of eye and, while it was very exciting, it was making Lily a little dizzy. She never could quite follow exactly what was going on.

Lily tugged on James' sleeve and he leaned down to hear her. "What's cobbing?" she asked.

In response, he used his elbow to nudge her ribs. "Hitting another player with your elbow." Okay, that made sense. Why didn't they just call it "elbowing" or something easy like that?

The Gryffindor Chasers kept the fans busy jumping up in excitement as they scored goal after goal against the new Ravenclaw Keeper, Scott Diggory.

"Diggory is the best thing that ever happened to the Ravenclaws," Benjamin laughed when Meg Lufkin scored another goal. Lily couldn't help but glance towards Laura a few seats over. Scott and Laura had broken up on none too friendly terms just before Christmas; she was cheering enthusiastically every time he missed the Quaffle.

Even while Gryffindor was racking up easy goals, Ravenclaw's Chasers were still giving them a run for their money; after an hour of play, the score was 180 to 130, Gryffindor. The Snitch had yet to appear. Meanwhile, James was happily explaining the plays and fouls and strategies that the teams were attempting to use, and Lily digested about half of what he said. What she did understand was very interesting, but it was rather difficult for her to focus on the game - she was much too uncomfortable. Lily felt sure she wasn't getting her fair share of the bench; she was completely squashed between Benjamin and James. Couldn't they spread out a little?

Although he had been excited to see James at first, it looked like Benjamin had begun to resent James' presence as the game progressed. Lily didn't miss the furtive glares that he was shooting in James' direction. James wasn't helping matters either. The more irritated Benjamin seemed to be, the more attention James paid to Lily. In return, Benjamin just got more irritated. For Lily's part, she tried to give her attention to both of them, but it didn't help much; she was still squashed in the middle.

Gryffindor fans were booing again as Ravenclaw scored another goal. "Did you see that?" James was the only one grinning, and Benjamin took the opportunity to scowl at him. "Beautiful long goal - that's throwing it in from outside of the scoring area," James explained. "That's the kid my team is recruiting."

When two more hours had passed, the Seekers still didn't seem to have spotted the Snitch even once. Lily was getting tired. Gryffindor Chasers had been putting away so many goals that the fans had taken to continuous standing. Her feet were beginning to hurt.

A large arm slid around Lily's waist as James leaned in. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I'm a little worn-out," she replied. His grip on her side tightened as he pulled her closer, and Lily tilted her head back, resting it on his shoulder. Maybe she could take a quick little nap standing up. Nobody would notice, would they? No such luck - Benjamin was already pretending not to look.

"The Snitch!" somebody yelled. "They've seen the Snitch! Go Matt!" The whole stadium suddenly leapt into a frenzy as the Seekers dashed after the long-awaited Snitch. Lily scrambled up on top of the bench, standing on her tip-toes, and chanted with the rest of the Gryffindors.

"Matt! Matt! Matt! Matt!" they chorused, urging their Seeker on. Matt was racing neck and neck with Edna Dearborn in an intense fight for the Snitch. Manoeuvring around a goal post, there was a collective gasp when the Seekers collided and both toppled to the ground. People down on the pitch were rushing towards the fallen fliers when the Ravenclaw raised her fist into the air, releasing a fluttering gold ball. The crowd went wild.

"Dearborn catches the Snitch!" the announcer shouted. "But Gryffindor wins! Gryffindor wins!" Jaws were dropping all around the stadium. "Final score," he announced excitedly, "Gryffindor 340; Ravenclaw 320. Go Gryffindor!"

Lily waved her sign in the air happily. Way to go Gryffindor!

An hour later, Lily was sitting in the Great Hall amid a pack of jovial Gryffindors. Right after the game, James had dashed away for a quick meeting with Orlan Mejia, promising to catch up with Lily at lunch. He didn't manage to turn up until Lily was about half way through her first slice of cake. As he landed on the bench next to her, Lily thought she heard a groan from Benjamin on her other side. No doubt he was jealous, but what did he expect her to do? Make James sit with the Slytherins?

"How did it go?" she asked.

"Brilliant! I hope we get him; he'd be a great addition to the team." James began piling up his plate with what was left of lunch.

"I bet it was embarrassing for him to lose a game right when you came to watch him," Laura said without remorse.

"It happens," James said. "Chasers aren't really so concerned with individual game wins though - that's the Seeker's job. A Chaser is more focused on the total points scored in the season."

Benjamin looked doubtful. "But you can't win the Cup if you don't win games."

"True," James said through a mouthful, "but you can spare a few games if you stack your points right. In fact," he waved his fork, "you could lose the final game and still win the Cup if you've got enough points overall."

"Really?" Lily exclaimed. "I didn't know about that!"

"But that's not likely to happen," Benjamin replied shortly.

"Maybe not," James said, "but Ravenclaw is still way ahead of Gryffindor in the fight for the cup. You only gained twenty points on them today."

"All that for only twenty points?" Laura asked. Lily was astonished too; she'd thought a win counted for more than that.

"We can catch up with them," Josiah assured her.

"Even if they don't find a better Keeper, Ravenclaw will still be hard to beat," James said. "Mejia gave them a powerful lead in the first part of the season."

Something caught Lily's eye a little way down the table. Dinah Summers was staring at James with a dreamy expression on her face, oblivious to the world around her. Apparently she hadn't quite gotten over him as completely as Benjamin thought. Lily sighed; Dinah was so pretty. Her hair was all smooth and golden brown, and her skin was so clear and even. She'd probably never even had a freckle in her life. Why couldn't Lily have skin like that? She didn't mind having a boring body and peculiar hair - if she could only have skin like Dinah's she would be perfectly content. Life was so unfair. Dinah flinched when she realised that Lily was watching her. She looked away and Dinah left the table abruptly, leaving her clueless boyfriend behind.

As Lily watched Dinah exit, she noticed that other girls were watching James as well. Did they all fancy him? They couldn't possibly be that interested in the way he ate his potatoes. Two seventh year Hufflepuff girls were leaning against each other at their table, openly gazing at James without any pretence. Occasionally one would whisper something to make the other giggle. Several others across the Hall were doing the same thing. There was even a small Slytherin girl sneaking frequent glances in his direction.

Lily turned to see for herself what all of the fuss was about. James was still talking Quidditch with the boys; when he saw Lily looking at him, he paused and winked. A throat was cleared on her other side. Lily just grinned feebly and reached for another slice of cake, imagining it would settle her stomach. Girls were so pathetic sometimes.

"You finished, Josiah?" Benjamin asked suddenly. "I'm going upstairs. See you later, Lily." With that, he stalked away.

Wearing a troubled expression, Josiah took his leave a bit more politely, and then jogged out after Benjamin. Hopefully Josiah would be able to get him sorted out - Benjamin had been grumpy all day.

Laura caught Lily's eye from across the table and grinned. "I think I'll go too," she said. "I want to congratulate Danny on the game. It was nice seeing you again, James." Taking a last swig of pumpkin juice, Laura rose and left Lily alone with James.

"Are you leaving too, James?" Lily asked. Everyone else seemed to be taking off.

"After lunch I have to go over some junk with Dumbledore, and then I'll floo out from his office. I wish I could stay longer."

Lily shrugged. "I have a lot of homework to do anyway."

"I'll walk you back up to Gryffindor Tower before I head over to see Dumbledore."

"Hey! I'm the officially appointed student guide," Lily said. "Shouldn't I be the one walking you around?"

"Dumbledore was just kidding about that, you know," James said, laughing. "It was the story he fed McGonagall when she looked worried about me causing too much mayhem if I wandered around the school on my own."

"Weren't you Head Boy or something?" Lily asked. "Why would she be so worried about you?"

"Let's just say that I had a tendency to apply the rules creatively." Yeah, okay. Lily could picture the chaos involved.

"I guess McGonagall didn't like that very much."

"Nah, she thought it was great," James said. "She just won't admit it."

"Sure. You just keep thinking that, James." What a goof-ball.

Once James had finally pushed his plate away, they began the trek to the seventh floor. James claimed that they were taking the scenic route. Lily called it the long way around. It probably wouldn't have seemed so long, however, if they hadn't been stopped so many times by excessively pretty older girls asking for James' autograph.

They had made it all the way to the seventh floor before Lily finally burst out with question that had been irritating her mind all morning. "Why do you bother with me, James? I don't get it. You could pick from tons of girls that are a lot better than me."

James raised his eyes sceptically.

"Take Dinah Summers for example," Lily said. "She's smart and nice and super pretty." Taller, older, curvier, funnier...the list went on.

He looked suspicious. "Who cares about Dinah?"

"She has a crush on you, you know."

"What makes you say that?"

"Benjamin told me before," Lily said, "and then she stared at you all through lunch."

"I didn't notice."

"How could you not?" Lily asked. "She's gorgeous."

"She's not nearly as pretty as you are."

Ha! That was a lie. It was sweet, but it was still a lie. Lily rolled her eyes.

Facing her, James reached out and cradled Lily's head in his hands, compelling her look at him. "Lily," he said, "I wouldn't lie to you. You know that, don't you? I think you're beautiful. I always have."

"I'm not." She tried to look away. "I'm all short and freckly."

"I think your freckles are sexy." Lily felt the heat of an intense blush seeping all the way to her toes. She couldn't possibly look at him now - not after he'd used that word about her. "And," he continued, "you happen to be the only girl I want."

"That's hard for me to believe," she whispered. Lily was convinced that butterflies were having a party in her stomach.

"Listen to me Lily. I promise I'll always be honest about how I feel about you. You have my word. No matter what ever happens, I need you to believe me." He sounded so earnest - she couldn't help but want to believe. His hands slipped down to grasp her fidgeting fingers in front of her stomach.

"Do you know what I've been thinking about ever since Christmas?" James asked. He lowered his forehead to rest on her own. "I've been thinking about when I kissed you."

He wasn't the only one. It had been replaying in Lily's mind for weeks.

"I can't stop thinking about it," he said. "And I keep wondering if you'll let me do it again."

That would be nice. It would also be dangerous. Too dangerous, in fact.

"Hoping you will," he added.

Very dangerous feelings down that road. It had been hard enough trying to forget about the first time.

"I've missed you, Lily."

The whole conversation was dangerous. The unruly butterflies were leaving her stomach and swarming her whole body.

"You're so sweet." He kissed her on the cheek and breathed against her skin. "Don't forget about me, Lily." With that, James squeezed her palms one last time before he let go and backed away. "I'll see you again soon, okay?"

"Okay," Lily nodded. "Bye, James."

Watching him disappear, Lily brought her hand up to the tingling skin on her face. Something scratchy was there, and she frowned with puzzlement. Rubbing at it, she looked at her fingers.

It was the war paint.

Beautiful.