VINGT CINQ

james sirius potter's too popular for his own good!

"BEN?" A VERY confused Henry Stints asked at an ungodly hour in the morning for two extremely hungover people.

"Shhhhhhh," Ben hushed as he lazily held up his pointer finger. 

"Ben," Henry exclaimed.

"I said shut it," Ben growled.

He sat up and flopped back down to be met with something not bed feeling, but, rather, something very human feeling. He shot back up in alarm and looked down at a groaning Lysander. 

"What is going on, Stints?" Lysander groaned. 

"You and Ben shared a bed last night, Scamander," Henry told him as a smirk formed itself on his face. "Anything you need to tell the room?"

"That I can share a bed with whoever I want," Lysander grumbled as he sat up and frowned at Henry and Ben.

"K," Henry hummed. "Well the match is today and you two are the main event, despite what the players might think, so let's hop to it!" 

"Merlin!" Lysander exclaimed, then he went frigid. "It's still in the bathroom!"

"What I — oh fuck!" Ben exclaimed as they both scrabbled to put on their shoes.

Still fully clothed in their rumpled uniforms from the previous day, Lysander Scamander and Ben Thomas sprinted down the hallway to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom praying that no one had found their specially modified camera. 

Out of breath and doubling over, both boys reached the bathroom to find it empty and the camera still there.

"Godric fucking Gryffindor, I swear if someone had taken it — " Ben grumbled as he tried to catch his breath.

"Woah, calm down, Jamal," Lysander muttered as he picked up the camera.

Ben pulled out his wand and cast a spell, making them both look ( and smell ) presentable ( enough to walk down the hallway to their separate dorms and change for the match ). 

As they exited the bathroom, they nearly ran into Lily Edwards as she was walking back from breakfast.

"Ben! There you are!" Lily exclaimed as a bright smile adorned her face. "And with Lysander ...?"

"Hi Lily," Lysander greeted.

"Hiya Lil," Ben greeted as well with a warm smile.

She then looked both of them over.

"And in your uniforms from yesterday?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "Lysander, what is in your hand?"

Lysander moved the camera further behind his back.

"Nothing," he said cooly with an innocent smile.

"Alright," Lily drawled. "Well I'll see you boys later!"

"Bye Lil!" Ben called after her as she walked towards her dorm. 

Lily Edwards had a rude awakening that morning by a frantic James Sirius Potter. Well actually, by that morning, she meant 2 am when he shook her awake to tell her about a play that he'd come up with in a dream so at least one of them would remember it. She had somehow managed to fall back asleep, but the later hours of the morning were no less restless. 

James was psyched out of his mind and she'd done everything she could think of to try and calm him down. From making him herbal tea to massaging his head to actually helping him go over plays, she tried. 

When she entered their dorm after waiting for him in the Great Hall ( and a very suspicious sighting of Ben and Lysander ), she found him panicked ( but what was new? ).

"James, darling, none of this is going to help," Lily cooed as she walked over to him and rubbed his back. 

"But Lil, you don't understand. If I lose this game, then we lose the house cup and then the scouts won't be interested in me anymore and then I will never become a professional quidditch player and then I'll become depressed and then I'll break up with you and then I'll move to some place in Sweden or something and become a goat farmer and die alone and a disappointment and a failure," James rambled. 

"James," Lily said quietly ( but forcefully ). "Look at me."

He obliged and looked into her kind, blue eyes. 

"None of that is going to happen," Lily coaxed.

"But-" James tried to protest.

"No, it's not and I'll tell you why," Lily said quietly, so he really had to listen to her. "You're one of the best players at Hogwarts aside from, possibly, Nyah and everyone knows it. And if a scout drops you because of one game, then they aren't worth it anyway. And lastly, I would never ever let you break up with me for any reason other than the fact that this wasn't working and so far, that's not a possibility. So come with me, give me the jumper that you want me to swear to the game and come and eat something. You'll feel better." 

James nodded and sniffed as he took her hand and led her into his room. After some rummaging in his draws, he pulled out a gold and red Gryffindor quidditch jumper with his last name on the back. 

"This should probably fit you," he sniffed quietly. 

"Alright," Lily said softly as she took the sweater in one hand and his hand in another. "What would you like to eat? Breakfast in the Great Hall is almost over, but if we rush, we could probably make it."

"Could we stay here?" James asked.

Lily nodded and led them to the kitchen and sitting area. She made James a cup of tea and then moved to making breakfast: fried eggs, sausage and toast with Nutella. James sat at the table and mindlessly drummed his fingers on it, not knowing what to do because he knew Lily would take quidditch materials away from him. 

Lily hummed as she started to make the food and James got an idea. He transfigured one of the lamps into a record player and set an Etta James record onto the table. Soon, 'Sunday Kind of Love' was basking the dorm in it's honey-like warmth.

He walked over to the stove where Lily was cooking, wrapped his arms around her waist and set his head on her shoulder. She smiled as she felt him faintly kiss her neck. He slowly swayed to the rhythm of the music, causing her to sway as well. 

She rested her side of her head on his and loved the tickly feeling of his breath on her neck. She loved how much the song described the moment. 

When the eggs and sausage were almost done, he unwrapped his arms, much to Lily's disappointment, sliced the bread and toasted it. While Lily plated the eggs and sausage, he spread the Nutella on the toast and plopped them onto the plates. 

Lily followed James to the table, carrying both plates and set his plate in front of him before sitting down herself. 

"So," Lily said quietly as she looked up warily at him and stuck her fork into a sausage.

"So," James repeated back as he cut his fried egg. 

"Would it help if you explained it to me?" Lily asked as she cut her sausage and stuck some into her mouth.

"Probably not at this point," James said with a chuckle. "I've thought about it so much I might psych myself out of the game entirely."

"Well now," Lily teased, "we can't have that."

"Suppose not," James said as a smile graced his face. "Any other topic of conversation?"

"Perhaps how our friends all formed relationships before we did," Lily hummed.

"They- huh- I guess you're right," James said with a chuckle. "So Fred and Lorcan ...?"

"Henry and Will, Estelle and Josie, Al and Scorp," Lily listed.

"Anyone that we're missing?" James asked, half jokingly. 

"Well, Ben isn't with someone, but- I don't think he's looking," Lily said quickly. "And Lysander is single and so is Nyah."

Then, as he finished his egg, James's eyes lit up.

"I have a project for us," James said excitedly.

"A project?" Lily asked.

"Nyah and Ryan," James said.

"Nyah and Ryan," Lily repeated with the same enthusiastic eyes and tone. "We have to do it at the game." 

"But how?" James asked. "They're both playing."

"Shit," Lily muttered. "Perhaps after?"

"Let's mention it to the others and see if they come up with some ideas, yeah?" James asked.

"Brill," Lily replied as she finished her eggs and sausage. 

Lily quickly ate her toast as James ate her sausage and motioned from him to give her his plate. He only raised an eyebrow and moved it closer to himself. 

"Give it to me," Lily instructed.

"For what?" James asked.

"To wash, idiot," Lily teased with a smile. 

James rolled his eyes and got up, heading over to wash it himself.

"James, you have an important match, you don't need to worry about dishes," Lily coaxed. "And besides, I'll just use magic."

"Alright," James muttered as he handed her his plate.

Lily smiled victoriously and took out her wand. She tapped the plates, utensils and pans in the sink and instantly they started to scrub themselves. She stood, marveling at the magical feat, thinking about how only 8 years ago she didn't know about any of this. 

James, who had said he was going to get dressed, leaned on the wall with his arm and looked at her with warmth. He noticed she was ( finally ) turning away and slipped into his room unnoticed. 

Lily walked into hers and took off her clothes from earlier. She put on James's quidditch sweater. It was quite big on her. It was one of his extras from this year and he was much larger than her. She rolled the sleeves a little so they fit her but still went over her hands. 

She tucked the sweater into a pair of high-waisted, cuffed mom jeans that, because of her thighs, were tighter at the top, but became loose around her calves and ankles. She had spent forever trying to find a pair of jeans like these as she didn't look good in lower rise jeans because of her hips and because she had long legs, she also had problems finding jeans that fit, but also weren't hundreds of dollars. 

She paired the jeans and sweater with black Doc Martens. She put her hair up in a ponytail, careful to smooth out any obvious bumps and fluffed the back of it a little as her hair was falling limp. 

She jumped out of her room, ready with positive energy, to meet a( n attempting to ) smile James Sirius Potter.

"Ready?" he asked nervously. 

"Come, come, my love, we mustn't be late," she said cheerily. 

She took his hand and led them out of the dorms into the warm spring air. The students were buzzing around the campus, excited for the upcoming match. Lily, still holding James's hand, weaved her way through the students and down to the pitch. 

Hand in hand, they fell into a sort of run down the hill towards the Gryffindor quidditch tent where they were met with ( quite possibly ) their combined group of friends.

"Bloody hell!" Estelle yelled. "What took you both so long?"

"I bet they shagged before," Lysander muttered, earning laughter from everyone. 

"Sorry!" Lily called. "I had to make breakfast!" 

"If breakfast is — " Henry teased, but Ruby hit the back of his head and stopped his sentence, much to the relief of everyone else there. 

"We have to go in, James," Nyah declared as she held open the curtain to the tent. 

"Alright," James muttered once the pair finally reached the group. "Bye, love!"

Lily smiled and kissed him quickly. 

"Good luck!" Lily exclaimed as he walked away.

"Won't need it!" James called back.

Lily snorted because just a moment ago, he was debating whether or not he was actually going to play in the match and now his ego was the size of Jupiter. 

"What's so funny, Lil?" Ben asked.

"Nothing," Lily muttered. "But I do have something."

"What?" Charlie asked. 

"James and I have a project," Lily revealed mischievously. 

"Which is ...?" Will asked.

"Nyah and Ryan," Lily replied. 

"Nyah and Ryan ...?" Lysander asked.

"To get them together, obviously! They've been pining after each other for so long! Honestly, I don't know how they don't see it!" Lily exclaimed.

The entire group exchanged looks and then looked back at Lily.

"What?" Lily asked. 

Ruby and Henry struggled to contain their laughter, Lorcan and Fred were already gone, Estelle and Will pulled comforting smiles, Ben and Lysander just looked at each other.

"Nothing, Lily," Charlie replied with a hint of a smile on his face.

"No! What is it?" Lily asked, becoming more exasperated. 

"It's just- it's just that- that was you!" Henry said as he burst out laughing. 

"Fuck," Lily groaned. "I hate all of you." 

"Yeah, yeah," Henry scoffed. "But, to answer your proposal, I guess, yes, we should get Ryan and Nyah together." 

"Hey!" Ben exclaimed.

"Seriously, Thomas?" Fred retorted.

Ben grumbled under his breath, but conceded. He did think they would be very cute. 

"So," Lily said. "How do we go about it?"

Ben and Lysander looked at each other and grinned.

"Leave it to us," Lysander said.

"Yup," Ben agreed.

"I -what's going on?" Lily asked, narrowing her eyes. "What have you both planned?"

"Nothing, Lil," Ben lied as he tried to fight a smile. 

Lily just narrowed her eyes more, but Professor Clearwater approached the group, whisking away Lysander and Ben before Lily could question them more. The group stared at their retreating figures.

"What do you think they have planned?" Ruby asked.

"No idea," Charlie murmured.

"Didn't even know they were friends," Lorcan replied. 

"And honestly, with their personalities, it could be anything," Fred said. "Which reminds me."

"Friday, midnight," Lily stated.

"Yes, ma'am," Fred replied.

"What's Friday at midnight?" Lorcan asked.

"We're going to have passionate sex," Lily deadpanned, not looking away from Lysander and Ben. 

"I- what?" Lorcan asked, confused.

"You heard me," Lily stated.

She then looked back and was met with the confused and ( some ) horrified faces of her friends and Fred Weasley struggling not to laugh, but turning beet red in the process. She gave them an unimpressed look. 

"Well? What else would you have me say?" Lily asked Fred with a mischievous smile. "Honestly this explanation is more believable than the real one."

Fred burst out laughing until he started to cry a little bit.

"I mean," Fred said through his laughter. "You're not wrong." 

"And there we go," Lily said with a big smile as she gestured to Fred's doubled over figure. "Are we going to watch or not?"

"Yeah, yeah," Henry muttered as he moved towards the seats.

"Sure," Charlie said as he grabbed Ruby's hand as she led them over. 

Soon, the group had situated themselves in the exact same seats as the last time this game happened, except this time, so much had changed. 

"We've got a real treat for you folks!" Lysander declared into the microphone.

"It's not teacher approved and was built by us last night while drunk, so it's bound to be something!" Ben exclaimed into his microphone. 

"Scamander and Thomas present: the Kiss Cam!" Lysander cheered. 

The crowd went wild as Lysander projected the feedback from the camera into the sky, showing a clear picture of the pitch.

"Would you like to do the honors, Thomas?" Lysander asked.

"All you, Scamander," Ben said.

"We built this in the wee hours of the morning and basically, it uses the combined function of- well- I'm not going to say because we don't want copy cats," Lysander announced. "And it focuses on a lucky participant in the crowds — "

"Or on the pitch — " Ben added.

"And we will match them with who they're most attracted to," Lysander revealed.

The crowd cheered.

"But be warned, folks, some love may be unrequited!" Ben reminded them.

"Let the drama begin!" Lysander exclaimed. 

Like normal, the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams took a lap around the field before touching back to the ground. James and Nyah shook Louis's hand and the golden snitch was released. 

James was on a tear that game, perhaps he truly had something to prove, or maybe it was that extra bit of luck that Lily wished him before the game. 

"Alright, folks, the moment that you've been waiting for!" Ben exclaimed into the mic as he interrupted the usual scorekeeping.

"Neck and neck, at 40 to 30 Gryffindor, we're going to choose our first victim," Lysander said evilly as he scanned the crowds.

"Or lucky participant, you never know," Ben added. 

Lysander then pointed the camera at a 3rd year that he knew had a crush on someone in their year ( courtesy of Lily Luna Potter ). 

"Rain Daniels, the camera's on you, love," Lysander revealed into the mic.

Then, a large projection of Rain was seen in between the Hufflepuff and Faculty stands. They went beet red as the camera then focused on a boy in their grade sitting a couple rows behind them as the boy's projection was cast on the opposite side of the pitch. 

Lily gasped and latched onto Charlie as Rain timidly jumped over stands. Once they'd reached the boy, they hesitantly moved in for a kiss on the cheek. 

The boy, obviously not getting the memo ( he's a future himbo, can you blame him? ), turned and instead of the kiss hitting the cheek, it hit his mouth. Lily screeched as Rain pulled away quickly. 

Henry started to clap and whistle and was soon joined by everyone else in their section. The camera moved away from them, so they couldn't see the aftermath.

"Looks like we've potentially got a new couple on our hands, folks," Lysander commented. "Let's see ... who shall be next?"

"I say my sister," Ben drawled into the mic.

"Benny, my boy, are you saying that you want someone to shoot their shot at your sister?" Lysander asked with mock shock.

"Based on the fact that I advertised it last time we were here, I'd say so Scamander," Ben replied. 

"Alright, Nyah Thomas it is!" Lysander exclaimed as he moved the camera to the direction of Nyah.

She was a bit hard to pin down as she was moving quite quickly around the goalposts, but as if on cue, she blocked a quaffle and did a victory fist pump. That was just enough time for the camera to latch onto her and her figure was broadcast.

"Let's see!" Lysander exclaimed excitedly as he clapped a little. 

Then, on the opposite side ( as planned ), the cheering image of Ryan Allen-Chang popped up. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, obviously still on a high after her epic block, but caught on. 

He grinned, kicked his broom off and zoomed over to where Nyah was sitting on her broom. He stopped right next to her so their brooms were parallel and with one hand on his broom and the other on her cheek, he pulled her into a kiss ( that she gladly accepted ). 

James was cheering so hard he nearly fell off his broom and the rest of their friends were screaming their heads off. 

"Ny! You got a boyfriend!" Ben exclaimed with a very excited voice. "Fuuuu ... fudging finally!" 

Clearwater glared at the both of them from her seat behind the two boys. 

"Alright alright, enough you two. You have a game to play!" Lysander exclaimed. "Well, in the spirit of siblings ..."

The camera then flickered to Lorcan, who was sitting in the stands next to Fred.

"Not a new couple, but cute nonetheless!" Ben commented. 

Fred exchanged a look with James, who nodded his head, and Fred quickly flew down to the stands. Lorcan was sitting three rows up, so Fred flew just above him and flipped his body upside down, the backs of his knees clutching the broom. 

"Wow, Fred, the classic Spiderman kiss, how ... you," Ben commented. 

"For those of you wanting it, Gryffindor currently leads Slytherin 50 to 30 with Fred Weasley and James Sirius Potter scoring in record time while we mess with the love lives of all of Hogwarts!" Lysander said into his mic. 

The camera then flickered from Lorcan ( Fred had quickly rejoined the game ) to Mishka Kumar, who was cheering with Isabel and her sister. 

"Alright, Kumar, you're turn ... let's see ... Fred Weasley?" Ben asked into the mic. "Hate to break it to you, Mishka, but he's a man off the market!" 

"We are very sorry for your loss, but we did say there might be unrequited love," Lysander said guiltily into the mic. 

"Let's find a second year," Ben said enthusiastically and Lysander nodded in agreement.

They finally landed on a second year Hufflepuff girl, Sarah Weinstock, who went bright red when she saw her face. On the opposite end of the pitch, the moving image of James Sirius Potter appeared as he scored. He pumped his fists in the air and then saw the camera on him. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked over at Lily who looked way too excited and was staring at the projection behind him.

"I also hate to break it to you, but as I think we all know after their very public getting together, James Sirius Potter is a taken man," Lysander said into the mic. 

He recognized her as one of the girls from the train and before he could see where she was sitting ( to give her a kiss on the cheek of course ), her image was whisked away and replaced with another second year girl. The thing was, his image on the other side didn't budge.

"Not another one," Ben groaned.

"Find another one?" Lysander asked and Ben nodded.

They moved the camera to a second year boy in a Gryffindor scarf. The camera on James did not move. 

"Is it broken?" Lysander asked as he hit the camera a couple of times. "Did we break it?"

"Let's test it?" Ben asked and Lysander nodded, moving the camera over to Ruby Macmillan.

The projection that once depicted James just projected the same image as Ruby's because Ruby and Charlie were next to each other. Ruby blushed as Charlie kissed her softly on the cheek and she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Very PG of you," Ben commented, causing Ruby to stick her tongue out at him and everyone seeing as the camera was still on them. 

"Alright, let's try this again," Lysander grumbled as he pointed the camera at a 4th year girl.

The image on the other side resumed to James Sirius Potter, who had just scored twice.

"Oh my god," Ben groaned. "This is not happening."

"He's overrated guys!" Lysander exclaimed. "I would know!" 

They then pointed the camera towards a fifth year, once again, James's image did not budge. 

"Why," Lysander yelled into his mic. "He doesn't need a bigger ego!" 

"Here here to that!" Ben agreed. "Stop being in love with him you lot." 

"I think we should- bloody hell! I forgot we were supposed to talk about the game! Granger-Weasley is making a dive for it!" Lysander exclaimed as he hit Ben's arm in excitement. 

"Looks like it, Scamander!" Ben said with a grin. "If she gets the snitch, then Gryffindor will win the house cup!" 

Lysander then groaned and his enthusiasm deflated.

"Forgot about that part," Lysander grumbled. 

"'t's alright, mate, I'll share the victory with you," Ben said as he placed a comforting hand on Lysander's shoulder.

"You will?" Lysander asked softly. "Are we about to snog?"

"No," Ben said with an equal amount of softness.

"Fair enough," Lysander replied in the same tone. 

"Granger-Weasley's got something!" Ben exclaimed.

"Could be grass!" Lysander exclaimed as well.

"Probably not!" Ben countered with enthusiasm. 

"Benny boy, you know what that means?" Lysander asked.

"What, Scamander?" Ben asked.

"It's time for the couple that everyone had to wait 7 bloody years for and watch them hopelessly pine over each other for the same amount of time, do not deny it Lily!" Lysander exclaimed.

"Here we are, folks! The whole reason why we came up with this idea!" Lysander exclaimed as the projection opposite showed a grinning James Sirius Potter. 

He flew faster than he probably ever had before and stopped right in front of her, the breeze that he'd generated fluttered her hair a little bit. She smiled softly at him as he gazed into her eyes.

"Looks like Fred took the Spiderman kiss," James said softly.

"Looks like it," Lily softly replied. 

She stood up and walked to the edge of the stands. James lowered his broom and placed his hands on her neck on top of her hair. She went on her tiptoes as their lips met. A lot of the pitch cheered, having also waited for this couple for a while. Lily smiled in the kiss.

They were lost in their own little world, that is, until the thunder struck and it started to pour.