the sweater ~~ jily

16.

Chapter Sixteen: The Quidditch Match

It was a week after the full moon incident and everyone was fully healed. James only had a scar on his face from the gash, Remus had small scars on his face, Sirius perfectly fine, and Peter with just a weak arm. Lily was happy her friends were back to normal, especially that James would be able to play Quidditch that day.

There was a match for Gryffindor and they were going against Slytherin, a perfect way to start the season. Lily was excited as well, some part of her really wanted to watch James play.

All day, she watched Severus and noticed he stopped looking their way and looked even more down than usual. She felt no remorse for him.

It was another day that Lily was with James. Sirius was a little more happier than usual. 

After classes, Lily and James were on their way back to the common room. "I have a Quidditch match today, d'you wanna come?" James asked shyly.

Lily shrugged. "Of course I'm coming. I'm not missing it," she said. James's face brightened. "It's the first match of the season, and you're playing against Slytherin." 

To be honest, Lily wasn't very sure anymore if she wanted to do this because of Severus. Some part of her just wanted to go for James. She didn't want to think about Severus at the time.

James had given the portrait the password as the portrait swung open. 

Lily grabbed one of her books and sat on the couch nearest to the fire. She flipped to her page of the story and began to read. James sat next to her.

He seemed hesitant. "Hey Lily, do you mind if I — "

Lily didn't know what he was going to do, but she didn't seem to feel like dealing with something else while she was reading a good story. "Yeah, go ahead."

"Okay." James adjusted himself so he could lie down and use her legs as a pillow for his head. Lily hid her surprise behind her book. Her heart was pounding on her ribs.

"So, what're you reading?" James, being the toerag he was, snatched the book out of her hands and close to his face.

Lily scoffed. "Give that back, little girl." she said, trying to take her book back.

"Make me."

Lily shoved his shoulder. "Yeah, make me decide not to push you off my lap. Give me my book back."

"I swear to my fucking life, you've been fighting for forever! You sound like children, fighting this, fighting that, mygod!" exasperated Sirius as he was doing homework. "Just confess your arsehole feelings and get it over with."

They both turned around. "Shut up," they both said.

James gave her the book back. "Let me be honest, I like it when you're...demanding like that."

"That's not my highest level of demanding. If I didn't..." Lily hesitated.

"Didn't what?" asked James.

"If I didn't, let's say, feel bad for you, I would have beat the whole little girl of you. But I'm nice to you." she said simply, only focused on her book.

"Wow, thanks for such a compliment." James tangled his fingers in some parts of her hair. Lily ignored this. 

It was time for the match. Lily was able to walk with James before he went off, James giving her a hug (and a kiss on the forehead but Lily tried to ignore it) before he left. She chose the second row of the bleachers to watch. People were making their way there.

a disclaimer that I'm not very good at writing Quidditch matches

Lily wore James's Quidditch sweater to the game. She felt excited. Peter and Remus sat beside her, Sirius next to Remus. 

The game had begun. The whistle had blown, the Quaffle, Bludgers, and the Snitch were released. Lily found James with a small grin on his face. He watched the Snitch and looked back at the other Slytherin Seeker. 

James had found Lily as well, he gave her a small wink and a grin before flying off. Lily smiled. She lost him.

The announcer had just announced Gryffindor's first ten points as Lily cheered. She looked to her side to see Sirius and Remus. They were both paying attention to the game, but something felt a little different. They seemed a bit different. Lily looked down, she noticed something was going on with their hands. For a second, she could've sworn they were holding hands. She shook her head.

"Gryffindor scores another goal giving them another ten points!" announced someone. "And there goes James Potter, Gryffindor's Seeker — oh, he's not holding back, he's, he's going right for the snitch as fast as he can! And Slytherin's just scored a goal."

Lily was filled of excitement, then a little less. Slytherin just scored a goal.

"Look at him — oh there's Slytherin's Seeker, oh god, this is getting intense!  And one of our Slytherin Chasers just fell off his broom, that does not look good."

Lily grew worried. She turned to Remus. "Moony, what are the odds a person could fall off their broom?"

"Well, if you're talking about everyone else, it's a fifty percent chance." He was concentrating on Lily and the game. "If you're talking about James, it would be pretty low, knowing him."

Lily sighed. She found James (or what looked like James) diving for the Snitch. His arm was out and he was reaching for something.

"Oh, James Potter is almost there, he's almost reached the Snitch! Aaaand...oh no!"

Lily frowned. James had fallen off his broom and missed the Snitch.

a/n

i'm bored so i might be updating all night
this chapter (including author's note) is 961 words

thanks for reading!

~the sweater