things i'll never say ~ l.l.p.

seven - loyalty

"Lily; Autumn!" Maysie and Charis burst into the dorm, calling me and my friend. "Are you ready for the match? The boys and Livia are waiting."

Jumping up from where I was sprawled on my bed, I grabbed my coat and scarf. "Marvelous! Are you coming, Autumn?"

"Yeah, yeah, give me a minute," she said, laughing as she grabbed her glasses from the bedside table. "Your enthusiasm is commendable, but you do realize it doesn't start for almost another hour?"

"Well, we've got to be there early to get good seats!"

"Alright, whatever," Autumn sighed, grabbing her things. "I'm coming."

The four of us made our way out to the common room, where Livia and the guys were waiting. Besides Charlie, there were three Ravenclaw boys in my year. First, there was Darius, a thoughtful but social African boy who was good friends with Maysie. Then there was Pete Bradstreet, with whom I had clashed a few times already over various foolish matters. Finally, there was Carson Zelles, a cute-ish blond boy with an unusual passion for history. None of them were my particular friends - neither, for that matter, were any of the girls besides Autumn - but today's match was Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff and all of us first years had agreed to stick together and show loyalty to our house.

Charis, who was quite the quidditch enthusiast, herded the rest of us out of the common room. Before making our way down to the pitch, we stopped by the kitchens for a round of hot cocoas and a batch of deliciously fresh chocolate chip cookies - we may have been brainiacs, but that didn't stop us from enjoying baked goods.

Outdoors, the November wind was cold, and I shivered even in my coat and scarf as we ascended into the stands around the pitch. Of the small crowd that had arrived early, most of the others were also first years; I supposed the older kids figured they had seen enough matches by now that they didn't need the best seats in the house. Mason was in a cluster of other Hufflepuffs; he waved in our group's direction but made no move to come greet us. I supposed that was to be expected - our rivalry today was more official than usual.

The nine of us settled in the best seats we could find, and then proceeded to be as cliquey as expected. Livia, Maysie, and Charis drifted in the direction of Darius and Carson, and Pete and Charlie fell into a conversation that I heard snippets of - something about the Chudley Cannons' likelihood of winning more than a single match this season. I knew, from my Uncle Ron's constant chatter about it all last summer, that the Cannons had acquired a new chaser fresh out of Ilvermorny who was supposed to be absolutely brilliant, so this was probably the cause of the discussion.

Autumn and I began to chat about the holidays, and she asked me if I'd made any decision yet on my plans. I shook my head. "It's still up in the air. I got a strange letter from my mum yesterday, saying I ought to convince Mason to go home, and if he does, I probably will. But I'm not sure why she's so concerned about him going home… the Bones don't usually celebrate with us; they go to visit Mason's grandparents."

“Maybe your mum thinks you two are a thing,” Autumn deadpanned.

I laughed. “Oh, please. That's just ridiculous. I fancied him years ago, but now… he's a friend. I doubt I'll ever think of him as more than that.”

Autumn muttered something in response that I didn’t hear, because more people were beginning to drift into the stands and their chatter made a good deal of noise in the background. I sunk down in my seat, glancing at the watch I wore - it was a cheap one, just to use ‘til I came of age - and saw that the match was due to start in twenty minutes. I should have brought a book or something…

Luckily, I was only bored for a minute or two, because some other people I knew showed up. First, the Gryffindor crowd: Rose tackled me with a hug and Lysa Scamander was close behind. “Your first quidditch match!” Lysa cheered. “Aren't you thrilled?”