𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗹𝘆, james potter

˗ˋ 08

CHAPTER EIGHT
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-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH JAMES'S TRYOUTS ARE WATCHED BY HIS LUCKY CHARM

. . .

Tiger's final class was potions, and whilst she stayed behind being harassed by Slughorn about a upcoming 'Slug Club' dinner party, James had had a free period and so was waiting on everyone to arrive.

But he couldn't even deny that he was even more nervous since asking Tiger. Sure, ever since he had recieved the letter in which it had asked him to be Gryffindor captain, he had been the type of anxious which was combined with excitement.

Now, he was just nervous. Especially when it had been around 20 minutes since the end of classes, and she still hadn't turned up. But majority of those who were trying out had, and so, James had no choice but to begin the tryouts.

Around five minutes later, Tiger appeared, already changed out of her school uniform and into one of the breezy summer dresses, seeing as the September weather had decided to be surprisingly warm.

Paired with a pair of black boots (which she often used as subsitutes for the school shoes her mum bought her), and the clips in her hair removed and instead held back by a piece of material that matched her dress.

He could see the gold chain which landed just above the neckline of her dress, glinting in the sun, and the multiple threaded bracelets which hung around her wrists and ankles.

It reminded him of the garden party, and he, just for a moment he could only focus on her. And his concentration on the girl was broken by her seeing him, raising her hand in a wave before she sat down next to the row of spare brooms, pulling out her knitting.

After the tryouts for chasers had ended, James gave them a break, before he would get onto the other roles. Chaser was a popular position, and there was only two places to fill - he had decided to keep one of them from the year before on. Which meant he had to eliminate a lot of people before he ended up with the two he needed.

"You look like you're in your element, Prongsie." Tiger smiled, before patting the ground beside her, stopping her knitting for a moment. "Come sit." James did so, slipping down onto the floor beside her. "So who are you thinking?" She asked, looking over his shoulder and the almost blank piece of paper which he had.

"Well... I'm not really. I'm a bit stuck." James said, staring down at the plain paper. "I feel bad about not picking people and I don't want to pick the wrong people and then mess the team up for the whole year."

"I mean this in the nicest way possible, but shut the fuck up, James." Tiger said, and James looked over at her, remembering his use of the phrase on the first night, but also because of the usage of his first name, which she rarely did.

"First of all, you were picked as captain, meaning that whoever picked you - I assume it was McGonagall?" Tiger checked, and James nodded. "Well they obviously believe in you and trust you to make the best decisions. And second, if you really need help then I can help you."

"You will?" James asked, and Tiger nodded, putting her knitting away in her bag. "I didn;t know you were properly watching."

"I wasn't really, but it's a pretty nice day and I ended up staring at the hills rather than knitting. And I do like Quidditch you know, it is fun to watch." Tiger said. "Do you mind?" She asked, reaching over and taking the piece of paper. She also took the the piece of paper which listed each person trying out.

Jotting down the names, Tiger put them in pairs, and then handed it back to James. "Who do you think is better out of these pairs?" She asked, and let James pick them out. They then did the same with them, all the way until he had three names left.

"Now you just need to test the dynamics. And not just by watching them play, you need to as well." She said, passing his clipboard back to him. "If there's anything you need me to do, I can help you. Friends, remember. You can talk to me about anything and I can help you with anything."

"Thanks Twiggy." James said, and couldn't help but grin as the smile spread across Tiger's cheeks. "Now I need to go get everyone together again. And please, take my jumper. It's getting colder and I don't think Remus would be very happy with you dying of hypothermia."

"And it's like that thing you mentioned earlier." Tiger smiled, standing up and slipping the jumper over her torso. "Now come on." She held out her hand, and when he took it, she ended up having to use both hands to pull him up. "Go and be the best Gryffindor captain they've ever seen. Pick the winning team."

"Thank you." James said, and pulled his hands out of Tiger's hold, placing a quick kiss on her cheek, before running off to continue the tryouts.

At somepoint during the tryouts for keeper, James noticed that Tiger had disappeared, but remembering her words about picking the winning team, he stayed focused.

But then, just as tryouts were finished, and James was able to have more time thinking about her being missing, she re-entered the pitch, a basket in her hands.

"It ended up getting to dinner time, so I went to the kitchen and got everyone sandwiches." She explained quickly, and everyone soon heard, and gathered around, taking their food and eating it before heading off to the changing rooms.

"And for Mr Potter." Tiger smiled, holding out the basket, in which there was only one sandwich package left. "I think it's your favourite. You mentioned a few fillings the other week and I didn't know which one you liked the most so I guessed."

"Thanks." James smiled, pulling the wrapping off of the sandwich and looking at it. "And you guessed correctly." He said, and Tiger grinned.

"Do you think you know who you're choosing?" She asked, as the pair slowly began to walk towards the direction of the changing rooms.

"I think so. Maybe. I did as you suggested and played with the chasers, and picked out two of them. I just need to choose on which pairing for the beaters." James said, finishing one half of his sandwich.

They reached the changing rooms, and Tiger smiled as she took the empty wrappings off of James. "I'll see you later." She said, a smile on her face as she walked away, leaving James staring after her.

Even as the afternoon had turned into evening, she was still wearing that dress, and the quiet, tinkling sound of her jewellery clashing echoed into the night as she left him.

Whilst James might have been somewhat on the fence about having a crush on Tiger so soon after his break up with Lily, there was no doubt in his mind that he definitely liked her.

But whilst with Lily, he had always made it obvious, constantly flirting with her and asking her out, he wanted to maybe not do that with Tiger. So he wouldn't make it obvious, and not persist for months on end until she said yes.

That was where he went wrong with Lily. He didn't doubt either of their feelings towards each other (which were different in scale on each others' behalfs), but he knew that after years of him asking her out, it would affect her opinion of him.

She didn't deserve that, and neither did Tiger. So he would be careful, and just let whatever happen, happen.

Even if he wasn't usually the person who would do that sort of thing.

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