VINGT

a little gryffindor courage!

LILY HAD NOT spoken to James in a month and it was hell for both of them. James kept trying to rationalize it, in vain. 

But now, he didn't have time to think about that. It was the most important match of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin ( again ), but they were tied for house points and so whoever won this game effectively won the house cup ( unless someone pulled a stunt like his dad and grabbed the rug out from under all of them ). 

It was 3 am and he was tirelessly going over all of his plays at the kitchen table. His quidditch books were sprawled out all over the table. His hair was the messiest it had ever been as his hands had been constantly running through it. 

By the time morning came, Lily woke up and got dressed in a charcoal pleated skirt and a red, loose turtleneck sweater, for Nyah. She stepped out of her dorm carefully, trying not to coincide with James's door swinging open, but instead found him asleep on the table. 

She stood, frozen, not daring to wake him up. She took her want out and slowly levitated his body and carefully placed him in his bed. She tucked him into his duvet and stood, staring at his sleeping form. This was the most she'd seen him in a while and it hurt.

She slowly leaned down and kissed his cheek before quickly and quietly exiting his room, making sure to close the door. 

The rest of the day went relatively normally for Lily as she studied with her friends and ate good food in the Great Hall. After a couple of weeks, her friends laid off on walking her to and from classes and the dorms. She knew that they had her best intentions at heart, but she enjoyed the alone time that she was once again granted. 

The Great Hall during lunch was packed with students as the quidditch match would start in just under an hour. Both teams were in there and Lily was happy to see that most students had both red and green face paint on ( however, there were still quite a few that stuck with only one team ). 

She walked over to a ( very nervous looking ) Scorpius Malfoy who was playing with the mashed potatoes on his plate while his boyfriend Al tried to coax him out of abandoning the game.

"Ah, Lily's coming over! Lily! Help me convince Scorp that he should in fact play," Albus called as Scorpius sent him a playful stink eye. 

"Wait, Scorpius? You're not going to play?" Lily asked.

"Of course not! James is ruthless and especially now since you — " Scorpius ranted, but then caught himself. 

"Since when?" Lily asked, growing concerned.

"Nothing," Scorpius said with a forced smile. "I'm just scared."

"Well, face your fears! Take on the world!" Lily said with a big smile.

"No offense, but that's a little rich coming from you," Scorpius remarked. 

Lily recoiled a little bit.

"Sorry, that sounded nicer in my head," Scorpius said as he cringed. 

"No, no, it's alright. Um- you're probably right," Lily said as she laughed at herself lightly. "I better go make sure Nyah's ok. But, you need to play Scorp."

Scorpius nodded and gulped uneasily as James Sirius Potter entered the Great Hall decked out in his quidditch robes, closely followed by Fred. He wore a bright smile and cheered when the Great Hall cheered with him, but don't look too closely. You won't like what you'll see. 

Lily scurried over back to the shelter of her friends. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. Nyah had told she didn't have to come if it was going to be too loud, but Lily was determined. It was important. It was important to Nyah. 

"You alright?" Henry asked as he nudged her.

"Yeah, just you know. Could you pass me some toast?" Lily asked.

He nodded and grabbed it and placed it in front of her and she took a piece, spreading marmalade all over it. She took a bite and let the sweetness of the jam hit her tongue and scorch the back of her throat. She felt as her parched throat struggled to swallow it, but the only thing she liked worse than struggling to swallow was soggy bread. 

Her body felt weird. It didn't feel like her. It felt like she was watching her life continue on without her, leaving her behind as she was struggling, gasping for air. She felt like the person that was controlling her body wasn't her. Because it wasn't. It was the terrified 7 year old who witnessed something not even grown adults should see. 

Soon, everyone started to move to the quidditch pitch and their group moved early. Nyah had to be there before even the players as she was a captain. 

Lily was thankful that Estelle had come back from Tết already ( and had brought delicious Mut and Banh Chung ). She dearly missed her friend and knew that Estelle's boundless optimism, but also thoughtful nature would help ( also very good food was sure to help ). 

They all walked down to the pitch when Albus and Scorpius caught up with them, hand in hand. 

"Lily!" Albus called. 

Lily turned to see the boy running towards her, dragging Scorpius and waving something red in the air. 

"Is everything alright?" Lily asked as the group stopped walking.

"Yeah," Albus said as he doubled over, trying to catch his breath ( running was not his forte ). "Here."

He thrust a red and gold Gryffindor scarf into her hands. 

"I- thank you," Lily said, very confused. 

"Yeah, you're welcome," he said as he rushed away again ( with Scorpius dragging him this time ). 

As he rushed away, Lily saw him give Rose Granger-Weasley a thumbs up. How odd. 

"Did Albus Potter just give you ... a Gryffindor scarf?" Ben asked in confusion.

"He did," Lily said with a slight chuckle and shook her head. 

"Do you know why?" Estelle asked as she shoved her hands into her very big coat ( Estelle was notorious for getting cold very easily ).

Lily just shook her head and shrugged, but held onto the scarf. 

The group continued walking down to the Gryffindor tent. They all wished Nyah good luck individually with words or pats on the back. 

They all noticed that James was already there. They all noticed he'd probably been there a while. They all noticed how he kept looking at Lily. They all noticed how he made not move to approach her. 

Henry gave him a curt nod as the group left the tent. They all walked up to the stands that were erupting in green and red. Ben left them to go and commentate with Lysander. Charlie had a knack for finding the best seats at a pitch, so he led the group through the accumulating crowds until he found seats that were suitable. 

They all plopped down in two rows so they weren't too far apart. Ruby leaned her head on Charlie's shoulder as she held Estelle's hand. Lily sat next to Henry in the row below them ( which also happened to be the first row of seats ). 

They all smiled mischievously as Josie approached the group and shimmied into the seat next to Estelle. Then, as if on cue, Will came and sat down next to Henry. Lily suddenly felt very left out, but very happy for her friends. She scooted over so Will would also have a good view. Henry took her hand and she laid her head on his shoulder. 

Then, the wind started to pick up, causing her hair to dance and a small smile to form on her face. She looped the scarf around her neck and noticed it smelled familiar.

"And you just put a strange scarf that Albus Potter gave you on, just like that?" Ruby asked.

"What? It's cold!" Lily defended as she turned to face her. "And besides, what's the worst thing that could happen? It's Albus."

Ruby opened her mouth and closed it again and shook her head with a smile.

"Fair point," she conceded and with that, Lily nodded and turned back around. 

Then, in streaks of green, the Slytherin entered the pitch and everyone in the stands erupted into cheers.

"Here comes the Slytherins!" Ben called into the microphone.

"Slyther-win is more like it," Lysander butted in.

"You know, Scamander, I forgot you were in Slytherin," Ben remarked ( into the microphone )

"Then remember it, Thomas, because we're going to win this year," Lysander countered. 

Then some muffled shouting was heard and two apologies to Professor Clearwater. But they wouldn't get in trouble, their banter kept the game afloat.

"There goes our star seeker, Scorpius Malfoy. He's led our team to 7 consecutive wins this year. How 'bout that Thomas?" Lysander sassed.

"That's a fact, Scamander, I can't argue against it," Ben said with annoyed amusement.

Canons went off and green confetti was sprayed everywhere. The team did a lap around the pitch before everyone saw red.

"HERE COME THE GRYFFINDORS!" Ben shouted. 

The Gryffindor team got on their brooms and did a lap, the same as the Slytherins as red confetti came raining down. 

"There goes the best player on the team and, hold on," Ben said as he stuffed his hand in his pocket and pulled out a notecard with Nyah's handwriting on it, "there goes Nyah Thomas, the best player on the team and the most gorgeous, smartest, most badass motherf- THIS IS A FAMILY SHOW, NYAH," Ben yelled into the mic. 

Lysander was in a fit of giggles. 

"What I think she means to say is that she's single and ready to mingle, gentlemen of Hogwarts. Shoot your shot at one of the Gryffindor team captains, but be warned, you have to get through me and her insane friends first," Ben said sauvely into the mic. Henry, Ruby, Lily and Estelle cheered loudly at their mentioning.

Then a muffled grunt was heard and another round of apologies. When both teams had landed on the ground, Nyah and James stepped forward to shake the hand of Louis Rosier, captain of the Slytherin team. 

At that, the snitch was released and the game started. 

"Rosier has the quaffle, but oh! it's taken by Potter!" Lysander started.

"Potter moves and chucks it to Weasley, Fred Weasley, as he makes a mad dash for the goalposts aaaand he's been intercepted by Rosier!" Ben continued.

"Speaking of Weasley, it seems as if Malfoy and Granger-Weasley are facing off for the snitch. How awkward this must be for their parents considering, you know," Lysander commented.

"Draco Malfoy's crush on Hermione Granger when they were at Hogwarts?" Ben asked with a grin.

"Exactly what I was thinking, Thomas," Lysander said as he gave the boy a laugh. 

Everyone was in shock at the news ( except for the people that already knew and, quite possibly, Minerva McGonagall ) and could hear that Professor Clearwater was too in shock herself to give the boys a proper talking to. 

"Seems as if we need to veer off this subject," Ben said awkwardly into the mic.

"How are you today, Thomas?" Lysander asked.

"I'm just dandy, Scamander, how are you?" Ben asked in return.

"Peachy, but I would be better if Rosier could get the quaffle back from Potter, who's just stolen and ten points to Gryffindor for the second score of the match, courtesy of James Sirius Potter, who takes after literally every member of his family," Lysander replied.

"Oh yeah, did his grandfather, James Potter also play chaser? And we all know his father played seeker," Ben mused.

"And his family makes up about half of the Gryffindor team. Talk about keeping it in the family," Lysander joked. "Oh oh oh! Nott's got the quaffle and YES! Ten points to Slytherin!" 

"Going back to the snitches it seems as if Granger-Weasley is diving and look at her go. And she's coming back up, but no snitch, seems as if the game will have to continue, folks," Ben commented. 

"Bummer, because Gryffindor's got the lead, but now Slytherin has a chance to come back and win the match!" Lysander called.

"Very slim chance at that, Scamander, because it looks as if, yup! Potter's got the quaffle and he's passing it to Weasley and back to Potter and back to Weasley and Fred Weasley scores! Gryffindor is leading 30 to 10," Ben exclaims. 

"But not for long because Rosier's got the quaffle, but oh! He drops it! Gryffindor beater Ryan Allen-Chang hurls the bludger in his direction. There's got to be a foul there! Come on! It was aimed for his head!" Lysander yelled.

"I think you're just worked up because Gryffindor's going to win. As we speak Potter's got the quaffle and that's 10 more points to Gryffindor, Scamander!" Ben said with a sarcastic smile. 

Down in the stands, Lily, Estelle, Henry, Josie, Ruby, Charlie, Will and Lorcan ( who had joined them after coming late ) were on the edge of their seats. 

They were all very surprised that it was Slytherin and not Ravenclaw up there, but because the former Ravenclaw captain had been caught cheating, they lost several points, causing them to be dead last in the running for the house cup. 

But, Slytherin was holding their own against Gryffindor. And this was new, only since the wave of Potters and Weasleys had the Gryffindor team been good again. For a while, Hufflepuff reigned supreme over Hogwarts with a 4 year house cup winning streak — only to be broken by one James Sirius Potter and his innate quidditch skills. 

Since then, it had been a toss up with each house winning at least one year for the past seven years. But this year, it was between Gryffindor and Slytherin as they were neck and neck. 

Lily watched as James expertly flew around the pitch. He obviously knew what he was doing and it made her heart swell to see him so happy. He truly enjoyed the game. 

James was enjoying himself. The one thing that could get anything off his mind, whether it be a girl or an impending test, was quidditch. He glanced into the crowds and spotted Albus sitting with some of his friends in Slytherin, like Anastasia Zabini and Richard Nott ( who's older brother was also playing ) and then he spotted Lily Luna with her Gryffindor friends, none of whom he knew the names of. 

But then, he spotted her and he froze. Sitting in the stands, as beautiful as ever, was Lily Jane Edwards in her signature skirt and sweater, but most importantly, she was wearing a Gryffindor scarf. His Gryffindor scarf, or more specifically, the Gryffindor scarf that had been passed down from Potter to Potter, from his grandad to his dad to him. 

That scarf meant everything to James and he guarded it with his life, considering it to be one of the most important things in his possession. He had won his first match while wearing that scarf and passed his Charms OWL in that scarf ( let it be known that James Sirius Potter was rubbish at Charms ). 

Every good thing ever had happened while he was wearing that scarf and now here was a girl who hadn't spoken to him unless necessary for a month somehow in possession of it, when he had specifically given it to Albus to wear. A Potter always had to be wearing it during one of James's matches or else he'd go ballistic. 

Lily Luna had taken on the duty for a while, but complained that it was itchy and she wanted to wear a Slytherin scarf this time to support one of her Slytherin friends who was on the reserve team ( which James counted as an ultimate betrayal ), so it was given to Albus. 

So why the fuck would Lily Edwards have it? 

He was too busy trying to figure it out that even in his momentary pause, he didn't see Ryan Allen-Chang hit a bludger towards Patrick Nott, but Lucy Bones, a Slytherin beater, quickly dove in and hit it away and that the bludger was now coming straight for him. He didn't see it when it came into his periphery.

Everything happened at once, James Sirius Potter was knocked sideways off of his broom by a ( very powerfully hit ) bludger and was sent hurtling down. The entire pitch went silent. 

Lily felt like she was going to throw up and she almost did, but she gained her senses again and started to rush down to the pitch. It seems as if everyone else had the same idea as a crowd started to form around him. 

She quickly pushed her way towards the front and fell to her knees next to him. Her hair fell to one side and she brushed the hair out of his face. He fluttered his eyes open and just stared at her. 

James Sirius Potter had never seen anything more beautiful. Maybe it was his heart talking or maybe it was his concussion, we'll never know. 

"Are you alright?" Lily whispered as she frantically searched his face for any kind of awareness of where he was. 

"Better now that you're here," he murmured. 

Lily laughed lightly as she sniffed back some tears that were starting to well in her eyes. 

"It's going to take a lot more than that to get rid of me, Edwards," James joked softly. 

"Bollocks, really?" Lily joked as she sniffed again. 

"'fraid so," James said with a slight laugh. "I guess you could say I fell for you." 

Lily looked at him and then up at Madame Podmore, the healer at Hogwarts, who was pushing her way through.

"He's fine, Madame Podmore," Lily deadpanned.

"What!?" James exclaimed in an offended tone. "I'm obviously dying."

"No, he's not," Lily said as she politely smiled at the witch. 

"I'll still have to take him in, dear," Madame Podmore said.

Lily then took one of James's arms while Henry Stints ( who had as well pushed to the front ) took the other. They helped him up and followed Madame Podmore as she marched away from the pitch. 

The crowd slowly dispersed as they travelled farther and farther away. They struggled a bit over the hill, but managed to get him safely into the castle. 

Once he was situated in the bed, Henry and Lily stayed to keep him company. He was conscious enough to know if he was alone and to answer a few questions, but he fell a long way, so a full conversation wasn't something he could tackle right then.

Henry joyously told a story about riding a broom for the first ( and last ) time as a child and how he'd fallen and scraped his knee. But it being a story from Henry Stints, it was highly dramatized and also included a twist ending with something about house elves and surfboards, Lily wasn't really listening. 

She was too busy staring at James, who was looking at Henry ( and his dramatics ) with a jolly smile. They conversed like old friends for a while, swapping stories back and forth and discovering things that they had in common ( like, but not limited to, the fact that they both cried during romantic comedies, they both owned a grey and white cat and that they both hated cooked bell peppers ). 

Soon after, Lorcan joined them, telling James that Lysander and Fred would be there right after the match. He also brought various Honeyduke's snacks with him, which immediately put all of them in a good mood. 

When Lysander and Fred did arrive, they came with the news that Rosier had called for a rematch because of James's injury ( which he was glad to accept as they surely would've lost ). Henry and Lily quietly left the hospital wing, wanting to give the boys space to talk freely. 

"How about we go to the library?" Lily asked as they walked down the corridor.

"Uh sure," Henry said as he checked the time on his muggle watch ( Estelle had gotten him it for his 16th birthday ). "Y'know, I wasn't expecting that from you. I thought you'd avoid him forever."

"Well I surely couldn't do that," Lily said with a nervous chuckle.

"Uh, sure you could. 4th year. Grace Andrews. It was your 3 month anniversary and she'd given you a promise ring, which was a little straight for how gay your relationship was, but that's besides the point, and you freaked out. 3 years later and you still haven't spoken to her," Henry stated. 

"Well that's- that's different," Lily said, slightly exasperated.

"Different how?" Henry asked with an arched eyebrow. 

"James and I were never in a romantic relationship," Lily stated matter-of-factly.

"Are you fucking joking? Sure it wasn't official, but I think even Susie-first-year could see you two eye-fucking nonstop. You were practically in a relationship," Henry exclaimed.

Lily opened her mouth to protest, but he quickly shushed her.

"You cannot tell me different and you know it," Henry argued.  

Lily grumbled a bit under her breath, but didn't say anything to counter his statement. 

The rest of the week, Lily brought James's work to him for Arithmancy and for other classes if his friends didn't have the time. Oftentimes, she came with Henry ( who was growing quite fond of the Potter boy ) or Nyah ( who wanted to discuss quidditch ), but on the day he was discharged, she ( reluctantly ) went alone. 

She had his work, like always, and came in to find him and his friends in deep debate with Madame Podmore.

"But, Clarisse, I'm just fine," he complained.

"Mr. Potter," she tutted with a smile and a shake of her head. "You are not ready to leave. This was a serious concussion."

"Come on, it's not that bad, see! I can walk just fine!" James said as he pushed the covers aside and walked a bit around the room.

"See!" Lysander exclaimed as he gestured to James's walking figure. 

"Mr. Scamander, I have eyes. Mr. Potter — " Madame Podmore sighed.

"See! I can even spin!" James said.

"James, I really don't think — " Lorcan cautioned. 

But ( naturally ) James started spinning around anyways. 

"Fine, but if you feel in anyway sick and I mean in anyway, come back here immediately," Clarisse instructed with stern eyes. 

"Yes, ma'am," James said forcefully with a mock salute. 

"Thanks Madame Podmore!" Fred exclaimed with a wide grin. 

The boys collected their things and started to head out. 

"You know, Marcy Leeds was asking all about you," Lysander said.

"Really?" James asked. "Merlin, I mean the pink hair looks good on her."

"Sure does, mate," Lysander said with a grin. 

Lily was about to slip away when James spotted her. She didn't know that he was going to be discharged today, albeit unwillingly on Madame Podmore's part, but still. This caused her to panic a little bit as she hadn't mentally prepared herself for what would come next. 

She'd been sweet with him and had reverted to the way they'd been before her meltdown, but now he was up and he could move around, which made things much more difficult for her. She was easing back into the relationship after screeching it to a halt because she was scared. 

"Hey!" he called as he waved at her, causing the boys to look at her as well. 

"H-hi!" she said as she hesitantly smiled as she nervously tucked some hair behind her ear. "I have your work from today. We mostly reviewed things, so there's not a ton to do and you're brilliant at Numerology, so it should probably be easy." 

He carefully walked over to her while she stayed put, trying to decide what to do next. 

"Please don't avoid me," he said quietly.

"James- I — " Lily stuttered. "Here."

She thrust the work into his hands and turned on her heel. She quickly walked out of the hospital wing. 

James stood there with the Arithmancy work in his hands and a crestfallen face. Everything was becoming good again. 

"Mate, what are you doing?" Fred asked.

"What do you mean what am I doing?" James asked, becoming slightly annoyed.

Life wasn't fair, he was learning that. It wasn't fair that right when he thought he got her back, slipped through his fingers again. It wasn't fair that she could stand there and look so beautiful, but then just shove the work into his hands and walk off. 

"Go after her, you idiot!" Lysander exclaimed. "She's your one true love!"

"What would I say? She didn't speak to me in a month and then it was like she didn't stop talking to me and now she's doing the no talking thing again. Women are so bloody confusing," James muttered. 

"Tell her you love her, James," Lorcan said calmly.