Finding fireworks || Sirius Black

03

"Too bad I'm not just any girl,"

Lily's POV

Prefect patrols were terribly annoying. That evening, I had been stuck on a strange corridor in a hidden corner of the castle for over three hours because someone was worried a student would accidentally wander into a room that temporarily housed a dangerous maturing potion. I wondered, not for the first time, why they didn't simply put a spell on the door. No, instead, we had to allocate specific prefect patrols to cover the area until the potion was ready. What an absurd waste of people's time.

Still irritated, I made my way back to the common room as fast as I could when my shift was over. It was a Sunday, and I wanted time to chill with my friends before starting a new week. I went in through the portrait of the Fat Lady after angrily muttering the password. I was going to go straight to our room, but then I saw a relatively large group of people gathered around the notice board, visibly excited about something. Curious, I approached them and found James Potter right in the middle of it. How could he not be?

"Right, stand back everyone, please," he waved a hand vaguely as if dismissing a particularly annoying fly. "Thank you all for trying out for the team today. As you know, we only had two open positions. These have now been filled. Congratulations to the new team members, first practice is Tuesday at seven pm."

Ah, so it was Quidditch. Even I couldn't find a reason to dislike Potter when it came to Quidditch. He loved it fiercely and believed it his sacred duty to do everything he could so that Gryffindor won every match. He had earned the Captain spot with hard work and ridiculous skills. Not that I would ever tell him that, either. I'd rather cuddle a manticore.

"Oh my God. Oh my Godric!" I heard someone shriek. I moved closer to the source. "There you are! Lily! Lily! Come here, right now. Now!" Alice's excited voice yelled a second before she emerged from the crowd gathered around the notice board looking bewildered.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong? See for yourself," she pointed at the parchment Potter had stuck there and gave me a curious look.

"Right, okay, let's see," I pushed my way through the crowd until I was right in front of the announcement. It was just the Quidditch team list.

Gryffindor Quidditch Team

Chaser – James Potter (C)

Chaser – Annie Vargas

Chaser – Louise Stilton

Keeper – Matt Wood

Seeker – Callum Griffiths

Beater – Sirius Black

Beater – Jocelyn Silverway

"Wait, what?" I read her name again. And again. Alice had made her way back in through the group of people and was standing next to me, her eyebrows raised as her eyes darted from the paper to my face and back to the paper.

"Well?" she said expectantly.

"What the... How did this happen? What? Where's Jo?" I stuttered. looked at Alice and took off running towards our room. I didn't even have to check to know she was right behind me.

Jo was sitting on her bed reading a book, oblivious to the world. She looked up when we came in and waved a vague hello.

"Jo... care to explain how and why your name is on the list James Potter just put up on the board? The Quidditch team list?" I said without delay.