𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

-ˋ 20

CHAPTER TWENTY
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-: seventh year :-

── IN WHICH SHE'S LATE

. . .

With Marlene and Tiger having talked and figured majority of the things they needed to, a lot of tension was lifted between the two main groups of seventh year Gryffindors. The common room was a lot easier to sit and relax in, and it seemed that Tiger was finally moving back to her dorm. 

She had been staying up in the boys' dorm since the beginning of term, and whilst James had absolutely no complaints with, the other three weren't exactly happy with the arrangement. But they understood why Tiger had needed to stay in there for a while, and even on a normal day she would end up in there somehow, so her sleeping in there didn't make that much of a difference.

"I don't even know why you guys are complaining. It usually stinks and is extremely dirty in there - with Twigsie in there it was nothing like that." Sirius said, looking behind him, up at Remus and Peter who were following him as they descended down the staircase from the boy's dorm. 

"You're only saying that because half the mess is usually yours." Peter replied. "You weren't so happy when she accidentally knocked over your precious collection of hair products."

"Who sits on windowsills anyways?" Sirius held up his hands. "I know she's not the biggest person but that shelf was overflowing, what did she expect to happen?"

"Either way." Remus stepped in, the Lupin boy forever the mediator in pointless arguements. "Tiger had to stay in there for a while, and now she's not." 

With a sigh, Sirius agreed, and the three of them emerged into the common room. Sat on the big sofa in front of the fireplace were the four girls, who seemed to have become comfortable with each other again in mere seconds.

Tiger was sat by Lily, her back resting against her knees. The pair were reading the same book, and it seemed to be a muggle one - Tiger was holding it above her, and Lily was reading out her copy. They looked peaceful - but Sirius was there to ruin that.

"Hey Tigs, you haven't seen James have you?" He asked, the girl freezing midway through turning a page and shooting up, jaw dropping. 

"What time is it?" She asked, looking over at Lydia, who told her it was five past seven. "Oh shit." She swore, folding the corner of her book and standing up. "Sorry Lils, I agreed to meet up with Potter for something." She apologised, the ginger girl reassuring her that she had done nothing wrong. 

"Well there's your answer." Remus said, looking over to his boyfriend, who sighed. They watched as the girl stuffed the muggle book in her bag, swinging it over her shoulder, accidentally pushing through a group of second years as she left the portrait hole. 

She made her way down the moving stairs as quickly as she could, taking quite the risk as she jumped onto a few at just the last moment. Ending up in the Entrance Hall, she wove her way around several crowds, and after taking a few shortcuts through corridors and haphazardly slipping through an open window, landing on the grass.

Tiger had agreed to meet up with James at the Quidditch pitch. The Gryffindor team had had an overwhelming amount of names on the sign-up sheet for tryouts that year, so much so that James had ended up holding two seperate nights of tryouts. 

They had happened in the second and third week of September, and he had managed to narrow down the applicants to fourteen. There were six chasers, four beaters, two keepers and two seekers that he was deciding between.

And the final tryout night had been that night, and James had been busy since he left his Alchemy class that afternoon. At the end of the lesson, he and Tiger had walked down to the Quidditch pitch, and she watched the first few tryout matches, before James appeared and told her that she should come back later, as it was probably going to take a long while.

As a chaser himself, it was important for James to figure out the dynamics between each set of different applicants. He would swap them with people, playing with them until he found the right duo to play alongside him. 

He did the same with the beaters, keepers and seekers. And as Tiger ran down the path to the Quidditch stadium, the dying sun about to dip past the horizon, she figured that James would be asking for her help.

"Sorry I'm late." She appeared in the changing rooms, seven minutes after she had left the common room. James was waiting by a blackboard, and smiled when he saw her. "I was reading with Lily."

"Good." He smiled, standing up. "Not you being late, but that you and Evans became friends quickly." James quickly corrected himself, and Tiger sat opposite the chalkboard. "You ready to help me figure it out?"

"I'm all yours." Tiger nodded. And so, the couple would spend the next hour or so trying to put together the best possible Quidditch team that they could. 

Winning the House Cup wasn't enough for just one year, had it been his fifth year that James won, he wouldn't be as bothered about it. But seeing as it was his last year, winning was a priority.

Deep down, she was just as competitive as the Potter boy was. And whilst she wasn't actually playing, she would do anything she could to get them to win.

So Tiger was very much willing to help him out with that. 

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