I'd woken up an hour early this morning specially to prepare for the Gryffindor Vs Hufflepuff match which was very unlike me as I loved sleep. I had planned to do a whole makeup look with pretty eyeshadow and lipstick but most of the time was actually spent digging around my trunk and cupboards for my Gryffindor scarf so that plan went out the window quite.

In the end all I had time for was a little concealer to cover up my latest breakout. Marlene said the spots blended in with my freckles and James wouldn't see them zooming around the pitch but to me they seemed larger than life.

It had been a few days since my talk with Sirius so I reckoned that he would have told James what I said by now, especially as it took James less than a day to tell Sirius everything. For the past few years, James had a habit of publicly asking me out before and sometimes even during the match which was always a disaster for us both. If stuff was going to happen between us, I wanted it to be different from before, just our business.

"How do I look?" I asked her, my face flushed.

"You look great, Lily, you're all red." She said, pulling me out of the common room which was bustling with excited people "Don't be so nervous, it's not like you're seeing him one on one or anything."

"I know, I know, it's just maybe if he doesn't do anything dumb, this would be a good night for me to you know... kiss him or something." I said, blushing so red just saying this that it was hard to tell where my hair ended and my face began.

"Lily, why am I only hearing this now? Why do you never tell me anything!" She said, really loudly causing a few people to look round at her and my stupid blushing face.

"I told you what I said to Sirius about me wanting this all to stay more private and that applies to you too!" I whispered, pulling her out of the common room and away from the crowds. We were meant to have waited for the others down there and meet Dorcas outside together but I wanted to hide away.

"So, tell me more? When did you decide this? A week ago you were freaking out it was too fast and now you're thinking about randomly snogging the guys..." She said, excited yet quiet.

"Sort of last night, I was thinking about my chat with Sirius - "

"I'm so jealous of that, why can't he sneak up on ME and have random chats in the corridors?" She said, clenching her hands in frustration, "Sorry, go on."

"Well, I just sort of realised that I was more afraid of it being a big thing and that James would be all showy about it more than it moving too fast. I don't like to have all the attention on me." I said.

"You still should have told me though as it happened."

"You wanted me to wake you up at 2 am? You'd probably slap me with a slipper." I laughed, playfully bumping into her.

Mary and Alice were a bit annoyed that we hadn't waited for them but soon the five of us (plus Frank) headed off to the Quidditch match.

When we got there, Marlene instantly pulled us over to some seats that I noticed, pretty quickly, were a few seats away from Remus, Sirius and Peter. I smiled slightly to myself, glad that she was actually going for Sirius a bit even if she claimed she did it for me.

"Lily, can you say something to them? You know start the conversation." She whispered surprisingly quietly.

"Hey Remus, Sirius!" I yelled, "And Peter, hey!". Marlene waved at them demurely but I was fine being the weird one.

"Did you forget Peter for a second and then just think 'Damn, got to slot him in somewhere'?" Sirius called back and I awkwardly shifted in my seat because it was spot on.

Alice lent over to me, whispering so Frank couldn't hear, "Since when are you and Black best mates?"

"Since she began dating his best friend." Frank answered causing both of us to jump. So much for being private about it all, "Sorry about that." He said. I turned to defend myself but decided that that if I complained. it would only make it worse.

It seemed to take forever for James and the rest of the teams to actually get on the pitch but at least it gave Marlene a chance to talk to Sirius. By the time the match actually started, the three "Marauders" had moved seats next to us which I could see Marlene was ecstatic about.

I'd always loved Quidditch although I was never quite good enough to make the team although I did try out one year. James tried to argue with the Captain at the time, Belmont that I should be on the team because my hair was the same colour as Gryffindor but I didn't want to be on the team because of that. Still, I cheered every year until my lungs hurt and my throat was hoarse, just because I didn't play didn't mean I wasn't involved.

"Hey Sirius," I asked, leaning over to him as the Hufflepuff team swooped in to loud cheers, "Did you tell James?"

"Yeah, I did, I think he got it." He said although he was half distracted as James and the Gryffindors were coming on. 

The cheers were almost deafening, still carrying on a little even when they wanted us to stop for the start of the game. I could openly admire how damn good James looked in his Quidditch uniform now.

"Mount your brooms, please." Madame Hooch's voice echoed around the stadium that was now deadly silent. Sirius tensed next to me raising slightly up in his seat. I noticed Marlene's eyes flicking back and forth between the pitch and Sirius.

The whistle blew and they were off, the pitch suddenly alive with yellow and red.

"Come on, James!" Sirius yelled jumping up from his seat, his face wild and passionate. Remus and Peter cheered too but everybody seemed to be outshined by Sirius's roars which seemed to echo around the entire stadium.   

Within minutes James had the quaffle and was speeding towards the hoops, two Hufflepuffs close on his tail. He was barely into the scoring area when a bludger was suddenly slammed in his direction, making him swerve drastically almost falling off of his broom. Bennett and Wallace, our beaters were quickly there to defend him but not before James, hanging upside down on his broom somehow managed to lob the quaffle and score whilst somehow staying on the broom.

The cheers that echoed around the stadium were unreal. James effortlessly lobbed the quaffle back into play before sailing round past the seats, cheering loudly, exciting the crowd.

"Potter, Potter, you can amuse the crowd after the game! Potter, get back on the pitch!" I heard a flustered Professor McGonagall yelled, rushing to the front. 

I could barely hear him over the cheers but I heard James reply, "Sorry, professor, won't happen again." He looked up, scanning the crowd and I knew that he'd spotted me cheering like a lunatic. He winked possibly at me or possible at Sirius before flying back off into the action again.

It was barely halfway and my throat was already sore but I the energy was so much that not cheering would be a crime. Dorcas always told me I could be a little overdramatic in Quidditch and damn it, she was right. I screamed at every near miss with the Bludgers, every time I thought I'd spotted the snitch, every time another goal was scored.

"You two," Marlene yelled over the crowd to me and Sirius, "You'll have my ear off, you two will, with all your screaming." Although she was smiling, clearly caught up in the excitement of it all.

Gryffindor were ahead of Hufflepuff by a good 30 points but the seekers were still desperately searching for the snitch and the end didn't seem to be in sight. The heat wasn't helping either and I could see James and the others slowing down. The whole game had been steadily slowing down for the past hour, like when you put a record on and it goes all weird and low pitched.

James somehow found the will to carry on chasing the quaffle, darting around so fast I could hardly see him determined not to miss an opportunity. I was sat down now, tired out from all the jumping earlier, only Sirius remained standing and cheering, as if filled with childlike energy.

My eyes were so focused on James, nose diving towards the quaffle that I didn't even notice the final whistle being blown and cheers erupting from the Gryffindor stadium. I assumed they were because of his rather spectacular dive.

"Lily, they've won! Lisa caught the snitch! We're in the semi finals!" Marlene said, pulling me up cheering. Alice and Frank were embracing, their faces excited as Frank pulled her close and kissed him. I almost laughed at Mary standing awkwardly on the other side as they fell backwards onto the chair she'd been sitting on.

"Yes, Prongs! Go Gryffindor!" Sirius said, still somehow easily getting his voice above the crowds.

James and the others began to circle around the pitch, rousing the audience and joining in with the cheers. James edged in close to the front, high fiving a bunch of first years. He looked up and this time, I had no doubts about whether it was me or Sirius he was looking at. A smile broke out on my face and I was determined to find him after the much and snog him as much as Alice and Frank were right now.

He stayed frozen where he was, still beaming up at me until a slightly wild expression came on his face. He turned away before randomly zooming off towards one of the towers. I tried to see where he was headed but this tall guy in front was blocking my view.

"Oh damn, what's Prong's going to do now?" Sirius said, bending down towards Remus.

"I don't know. I hope it's nothing stupid..." Remus said, slightly nervously glancing at me. He caught me looking and smiled awkwardly.

"It's a Potter plan, it's always stupid." Sirius said, still laughing and cheering although slightly less than his raucous shouts before.

"Sometimes they're brilliant, like that time when..." Peter began but his voice was drowned out by a loud, familiar voice over the commentator's speaker.

"Testing? Testing?" Potters voice echoed over the suddenly silent stadium. A horrible feeling began to form in my stomach and I could hear my heart racing in my head, "I just wanted to dedicate my last nosedive to Evans!"

My heartbeat quickened but not in a romantic way that I'd hoped I'd feel today.

"Lily, do you want to leave?" I heard Marlene say from besides me but I didn't reply, I was too focused on James's unfolding Quidditch dedication.           

"I've been asking her out for years and for once she's finally said yes!" He said before zooming away. It felt like the cheers from this were even louder than the game. Everybody around us had turned to look at me and I felt slightly dizzy.

"Lily, are you alright..." Mary said, moving towards me but I didn't want to talk to her. I darted towards the steps away from the whole scene. Potter had stopped his laps around the stadium and the last thing I saw before I left the stadium was him freezing to look at me.

I ran at full speed away. I could hear people calling behind me but I had a head start and I had a motive to run now which made it even faster. Finally I got inside the eerily empty Hogwarts and slumped against a wall, pressing my face into my hands.

The whole school knew. He knew that I wanted to be subtle about it and then announced it to everybody. Maybe I was just another girl to him, this was just another match and to him it didn't matter but this was a huge deal for me and I didn't want the whole school weighing in.

"Lily?" I heard a voice call. I wanted to talk to Marlene or Alice or Remus or even Frank about it more than stupid Sirius Black but of course he was the one who found me.

"Go away, Black, I don't want to talk to you."

"Lily, he's Potter, he's excited and it was  a Potter plan - " He began, stumbling over his words.

"Did you even tell him?" I asked, not looking at him.

"I did, I don't know if he was listening, not really though." Sirius admitted, "But this is just how he shows excitement, he was so happy that he wanted to share it..."

"It doesn't matter, this is the last thing I wanted. People talking about it like I'm some character in a book, I hate it and even if you hadn't told him, he knows I'm not showy." I spat my words out, anger slowly raising in me. He'd been obsessed with me for years, how did he not know this about me?

"Lily, just talk to him - " Sirius said desperately.

"Save it, Black, I'm not interested. I'm done with him, I'm done with Potter." I said, standing up sharply and running away.

"Lily, please!" I heard but this time I was running away so fast that he'd never be able to catch up to me.        

 In the spirit of impromptu dedications and here's hoping it doesn't blow up in my face like James's did, I would like to dedicate this chapter to -sarcasticsalma for all her support on the Idiot with the Glasses and I just wanted to say a huge thank you! - E x