Potter

James: Three

I don't know why I expected the schoolwork to be more relaxed on the first day, because it wasn't. It never was. Professor Binns assigned us a reading essay that has to be done by next Friday. Fourteen days to do a twenty page essay?

That's right. It has to be twenty pages long.

I'm gonna die before tomorrow. Fred was unusually calm about the schoolwork we were getting, because usually, he's panicking to get everything done after procrastinating for most of his work time. I sat in the Great Hall at lunch, feeling in my gut that I have forgotten something crucial, but I just couldn't pinpoint what it was. That was when Lily burst into the Great Hall, looking like a wreck. She ran over to me and plopped down out of breath.

"James! I just walked through a door, thinking it was the toilet! Guess what it was instead!"

Suddenly, I remembered the conversation I'd had with Lily before.

"James? Can you show me how to get to my classes tomorrow?"

I looked up at her absentmindedly "Huh? Uh, yeah, sure, Lily."

I looked at Lily with a look of I'm sorry, I fucked up. She shook her head.

"It was a closet that was filled with some weird black vines!"

I nodded "That's Devils Snare.  Maybe you should know there are some closets here that are infested with plants like that."

Lily face-planted her head into her plate of food. I looked around before lifting her head out of her potatoes and wiped her forehead clean. I looked at her and half smiled in an apologetic way.

"Look, Lily, I'm sorry. I woke up in an odd mood and completely forgot." I scooped a few potatoes on her plate to make up for the third of them that stuck to her forehead "How'd you do getting to your classes without me?"

Lily picked up her fork and shoved a bite into her mouth. Once she swallowed the potatoes, she said "I did alright. Lorcan and Lysander helped me instead."

Fred chuckled, which I instinctively elbowed him in the gut. He wheezed in an attempt of catching his breath. Lily and I finished eating and headed to the library, so Lily would be able to find everything she needed in the future. As I ended my "quick" tour of the library, I said;

"And that's the study quarter, Lily. Now, I've got to get to the Quidditch meeting with the other three captains and I'm already late. Can you find your way back to the common room by yourself?"

Lily nodded and I gave her a quick thumbs up before taking off down the hall. We didn't really need to have Quidditch captain meetings, but May Holden~ the Ravenclaw captain~ thought that it would be less confusing for the start of Quidditch season if we made a schedule for when each house team will get to practice. It would be less confusing that way.

I burst into the classroom out of breath. Taking my seat, Damien Arnolds~ the Hufflepuff captain~ continued his talk.

"Alright! Now that James is present, let's get into the important stuff!" he handed a piece of chalk to May and sat down. May stood up and wrote on the board;

Quidditch Schedule
Gryffindor-
Slytherin-
Hufflepuff-
Ravenclaw-

"Okay, James! Which days of the week will you have practice?"

I swallowed and started panicking. I'd forgotten to think about days. I came to a conclusion;

"Mondays and Fridays work for me."

"What times?"

"3:45 pm, for both days."

May wrote it down on the board, then looked at Renee Lyfield~ Slytherin captain~ for her times.

"Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 4:00 pm, please." Renee said.

May wrote it down, then turned to Damien. He pat his hands to his knees "You wanna take Thursday and Saturday morning, May? Cause I can take Saturday afternoon and Sunday."

May smiled and wrote down her teams practice times. Damien gave a small smile and said "Saturday at 2:00. Sunday at 11:30."

Now the board read;

Quidditch Schedule
Gryffindor- Monday/Friday, 3:45 pm
Slytherin- Tuesday/Wednesday, 4:00 pm
Hufflepuff- Saturday, 2:00 pm; Sunday, 11:30 am
Ravenclaw- Thursday, 3:30 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am

May set the chalk down and sat next to James. Renee stood up and underneath our practice times, she wrote;

Quidditch Tryouts
Gryffindor

Slytherin

Hufflepuff

Ravenclaw

She looked at us and asked "What positions need filling?"

I sat straight up "Gryffindor needs all new Chasers."

"I thought you only needed two?" Damien asked.

I shrugged at him "Well, that was true, but Sasha forgot about the vanishing stair and stepped straight through it. Madam Pomfrey says she won't be able to play this year."

Renee turned toward the board and said to herself as she wrote down;

"Three Chasers for Gryffindor."

Our captains meeting lasted a bit longer than we planned, because we ended up talking about nonsense for half of it. The board ended up looking like this;

Quidditch Schedule
Gryffindor- Monday/Friday, 3:45 pm
Slytherin- Tuesday/Wednesday, 4:00 pm
Hufflepuff- Saturday, 2:00 pm; Sunday, 11:30 am
Ravenclaw- Thursday, 3:30 pm; Saturday, 10:00 am

Quidditch Tryouts
Gryffindor
Chaser:
Chaser:
Chaser:
Slytherin
Beater:
Keeper:
Hufflepuff
Chaser:
Chaser:
Seeker:
Ravenclaw
Seeker:
Beater:
Chaser:

By the time I returned to the Gryffindor common room, I was really tired and went to sleep instantly as soon as my head hit the pillow.
(If I snored as I slept, I want to apologize to the boys in my dorm, because Albus tells me it's very loud.)