Annie Potter had been an important part of the Potter clan ever since she was born. Everyone who was apart of the family tried their best to fill the hole Annie's mother had left after she died.

In the first few hours of the day she was born, her mother had died due to the amount of blood she had lost during labor. Never having met her mother, Annie often stopped to sit around and think about how different life would have been if her mother was still around.

Her older brother and James had always told Annie stories about what a nice person her mother had been. She was one of the best people they had ever known according to the stories Annie was told.

Yet, the stories, letters, and photo albums were never enough for Annie. She yearned to have a connection to the woman who had died giving birth to her. She wanted the love only a mother could give you.

With a heavy heart, she boarded Hogwarts Express and searched for the cousin she had come to consider a brother.

...

"Did you do the transfiguration essay yet, Prongs?" Pete asked, shaking a box of Bertie Bott's to find a good flavor.

Just Peter and James sat in the compartment now. Remus was no doubt attending the prefect meeting, and Sirius was currently missing in action. He would probably return with a new adventure under his belt.

"Nah, I was gonna do that tonight after dinner," James answered casually. "I can't believe Minnie actually assigned something over the holiday. That's got to be considered a crime somewhere."

"All of the other teachers always assign things over holiday," Peter tried to reason as he gagged on a bad tasting bean.

"But it's Minnie!" James whined as the compartment door opened to reveal Sirius and Annie.

"I called her that once during class and she didn't say a word as she handed me my detention slip," Annie said as Remus also entered the compartment.

"You have got to stop hanging out with us," Remus said, sitting down next to James.

"There's nothing wrong with being like us!" James said, causing Remus to roll his eyes and Annie to giggle.

"After all, somebody has to carry on our legacy after we've graduated!" Sirius continued dramatically. "It might as well be someone with the same last name!"

The group of five resolved into comfortable silence as they all found conversation to occupy themselves. Sirius and Remus argued over something while Peter attempted to play mediator. James and Annie sat watching this all go down before she grew bored.

"I promised Thomas and Walter I'd meet them in our compartment," Annie said, standing up to leave. "Oh, and I almost forgot! I need to talk to Lily and Marlene about something, can you tell them?"

James raised an eyebrow but just nodded in reply as she left with her trunk in hand.

"That was odd," James mused, drawing the boys out of their argument. "What do you think she needs to talk to them about?"

Sirius shrugged.

"Probably girl stuff or something," he said casually.

"Do you think she knows she can talk to me about anything?" James asked, still confused as to why she couldn't just talk to him.

"I'm sure she does," Remus reassured him with a smile. "Marlene and Lily have a different set of expertise than you do, and she just so happens to need that kind of expertise."

"Whatever you say, Moony."

...

"So, Ali, how was Frank's house?" Marlene asked, a grin upon her face.

"I have a feeling she didn't like me all that much," Alice said sadly. "I even brought her flowers!"

"She's probably just protective over Frank," Lily replied, trying her best to support Alice through her sadness.

"Mama's boy," Mary muttered under her breath.
Marlene snorted to herself after hearing the comment.

"How were your holidays?" Alice asked, clearly changing the subject.

"Well you heard about how Lily got kicked out of her house-"

"I didn't get kicked out, I left!" Lily interjected. "Marlene and Sirius went on a date!"

"Hey! I wanted to tell them!" Marlene complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lily stuck out her tongue in response like a child would.

"A date! Oh my Merlin, that's fantastic!" Alice squealed.

"I cannot believe you've withheld this information from us for so long, Marlene McKinnon!" Mary said dramatically. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Oh, sod off!" Marlene said, sighing to herself. "Anyway, he took me to-"

Marlene was cut off by the compartment door sliding open. Mary groaned at the story being interrupted as did Alice.

"Tell us how you really feel!" Sirius said, sitting down next to Lily as Remus, James, and Peter filtered into the compartment.

Every time she saw James her cheeks warmed at the thought of how close she was to him on that snowy sidewalk. He winked at her as if he knew what she had been thinking.

"Nothing against you four, of course, but Marlene was just in the middle of a lovely story," Mary explained, not missing the grin that grew on Sirius's face at the mention of Marlene, who was now sitting on the ground next to James.

"Yes, a lovely story we really should get back to," Alice continued, "which means you all need to leave."

James put his hand over his heart and gasped.

"I thought my company meant more to you than this," James exclaimed, causing Alice to roll her eyes.

"Was there something you needed?" Alice asked, not unkindly.

"Yeah, actually, we were told to relay the message that Annie wanted to talk to Marlene and Lily," James said, his demeanor changing.

The marauders saluted them and left as quickly as they had come.

...

After dinner, which included way too many plates of chicken and treacle tart, Annie pulled Marlene and Lily aside. She looked jittery and nervous, which concerned them because Potters were known for their ability to act confident in even the worst situations.

"I have a crush."

That caught Lily off guard. Marlene smiled reassuringly and sat down on the stone floor. Lily joined her and patted the spot next to her for Annie to sit.

"Which would be completely fine, except for the fact that it's on a girl," Annie said shakily.

Curveball.

Marlene drew out a long exhale as she watched Annie's face. This reminded her of a similar conversation she had had with her older brother.
Annie was shaking now.

Lily pulled her over to her for a hug. Annie looked close to tears. Marlene and Lily shared a sad but knowing look.

"I'm scared. Why am I like this?" Annie had started to cry. "I'm supposed to like boys!"

"Just because society accepts women who like men more than women who like women, does not mean you're supposed to like boys," Marlene said, taking another steadying breath. "Do you wanna hear a secret?"

Annie nodded in response. Lily held onto her a little tighter.

"I like both boys and girls," Marlene whispered, hoping to Merlin that no one else was around. "It took me so long to accept myself because I thought I was weird for liking the same gender, but I found people to surround myself with who loved me for me."

They all sat with that thought for a moment.

"I never want you to believe that you're not worthy of love just because you're different, okay?" Lily said with Annie leaning on her chest still.

Annie sniffled.

"Okay."

"You'll always be safe with us," Marlene said, softly smiling at Annie.

"What are you girls doing?" The stern voice of none other than their Head of House asked.

They all immediately stood up. Marlene and Annie wiped the tears from their faces.

"Just heading up to the common room now, Professor," Lily said as Minnie surveyed them.

"Next time please report directly to your common room," Minnie said, sighing as she turned around and walked the other way.

...

"Marlene!"

"What do you want, Potter?" She yelled as he ran to catch up with her.

They walked to the quidditch stadium together as the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw approached.

"Could you have waited to steal the heart of my best mate after the Quidditch match?" James asked, kicking a rock down the hill that led to the locker rooms.

She smirked but didn't reply.

"He wouldn't listen to any of my strategies!" James further complained. "He was too busy talking about the way your eyes shine-"

"He's just giving you a taste of your own medicine," Marlene interrupted him, blushing. "You've talked about Lily like that nonstop for years!"

"Oi!" James nearly yelled in response.

He didn't even try to defend himself because he knew she was right. Ever since Lily Evans has caught his eye, there was nothing else he liked to talk about more.

...

It was already a week into January, time flies. No thoughts of the upcoming full moon were plaguing his clear mind and neither were worries about Lily's birthday. They were the same day, which was obviously a problem because then they couldn't celebrate her birthday properly. Not only that, but they had to come up with an excuse good enough not to celebrate her birthday. It was on a Friday.

None of that was on his mind right now though. Just Quidditch.

When James finally made it into the locker room, he saw six either smirking or grinning teammates. Ravenclaw, just you wait.

"Who's ready to play some Quidditch?" James roared excitedly.

His team roared in response.

"Ok, although I have so much faith in us, I can't deny that Ravenclaw is fast. They will come out with a plan, but if you foil their plan the game is yours."

"Chang is a strong keeper, and I know he's intimidating," he said, making eye contact with everyone in the room, "just keep your cool when shooting and we'll be fine."

Kayley and Thomas nodded, looking especially determined. Last year versus Ravenclaw, Thomas was knocked out by a bludger ten minutes in and had to be escorted to the hospital wing.

"Alyssa, find the damn snitch as soon as possible. I have a feeling their seeker will tail you instead of finding the snitch on their own. Take advantage of that, fake them out if you have to."

Alyssa was rocking back and forth on her heels, looking the most stressed out of anyone on the team.

"Fly like you did yesterday, Laura, and you'll be fine. The chasers on Ravenclaw are all new this year and mediocre flyers at best."

"James!" Laura exclaimed with wide eyes.

"What, it's the truth," James shrugged with a smile.

He then turned to the two players with the biggest smirks on their faces.

"Pads, Marls," he paused for a second, "don't let the sexual tension get the best of you before you make it off the field."

"Oi! There are minors present."

They could hear the commentary boom throughout the stadium as the Ravenclaw team entered. Jordan was back at it again.

"Entering the pitch is one of the best teams Ravenclaw has put together in years. With Chang as their captain, they might just have a chance at beating the Gryffindor team."

"My arse they do," Sirius muttered under his breath.

The changing rooms were silent as they arranged themselves for a quick lap around the stadium. Laura would be leading the team out, followed by Marlene and Sirius. Alyssa was going to be closely behind them and then the chasers would be behind her. Jamss was flying in the very back and as captain, he had to fly to the middle of the pitch.

"Now entering the pitch is the Gryffindor team!"

They kicked off the ground and entered the absolutely crazy stadium. Everyone was screaming, which meant the noise was not discernible from where the players stood, or flew. James decided there were more cheers for Gryffindor though.

"I regret what I said earlier about Ravenclaw having a chance. Potter is on the Gryffindor team, there's no way he's losing."

"Jordan, you are being paid to commentate this game unbiasedly," the stern voice of McGonagall said into the mic.

James chuckled as he landed by Chang and Hooch in the middle of the pitch.

If Diggory and James were rivals, then Chang and James were enemies. Gryffindor has had a higher chance of losing to Ravenclaw since Chang was made captain in his fifth year, James's fourth. Chang, Diggory and James have a rival triangle.

They shook each other's hand roughly and with a glare. The air around them was tense as we stared down the counterpart. Like the lion before they pounce.

"I want a clean game out of both of you," Hooch's voice said rather loudly. "Alright I'm about to let the balls go." And with one last glare they were up in the air.

...

"That's yet another goal for Potter. He seems to be extra confident out there today. Chang really had no chance with the fake that Potter pulled."

Gryffindor was winning fifty to twenty. The snitch hasn't been seen at all in the twenty minutes that they've been playing. That wasn't at all concerning though because sometimes it took awhile to find the snitch.

It was easier to spot Lily today in the stands. In the match against Hufflepuff she seemed to blend in more. She stood out and her presence at the match was enough to make him get sweaty palms.

It seemed she had the widest smile out of any of his friends and happened to be the loudest cheerer too. Maybe that was because James was looking to hear her voice or maybe it was because she actually was the loudest. Only Merlin knows.

...

Hooch blew her whistle. No one had seen the snitch in forty minutes. She flew to McGonagall in the commentators box leaving the players confused. Gryffindor was still winning eighty to forty.

James gestured for all the Gryffindor players to fly back to where the changing rooms were. The crowd was so loud he couldn't hear himself think.

"What the hell is happening?" Sirius shouted once they all huddled together in a circle.

"Have you seen the snitch, Alyssa?" James asked, clearly stressed.

She smiled.

"Actually, I caught it." She held the small golden ball tightly in her fist. "Hooch thinks Ravenclaw hexed it so I wouldn't be able to catch it."

"But you caught it," James pointed out with a laugh.

"I should say that Hooch thinks Ravenclaw hexed it to try and make it harder for me to catch it."

Sirius and Marlene whooped simultaneously.

"Freed, let me see the snitch," Hooch requested.

McGonagall, Flitwick and Hooch were standing there examining the snitch. Every member of the team was not talking, the only sound you could hear were confused shouts from the crowd.

"They definitely did hex it. I'll take some points from Ravenclaw and put the team members in detention, but Gryffindor you won!"

They all cheered. Alyssa earned a few slaps on the back and when James went to look for Sirius he couldn't find him anywhere.

He needn't look any further though since it seemed that he was having a deep conversation with Marlene. He only hoped it meant what he thought it meant.

As he was looking over at them, he got the idea for Lily's birthday present. He would get the necklace that the Slytherin's stole fixed! James resolved that he'd have to ask Marlene if it was a good idea later.

"James!"

His gaze followed the voice and saw a redhead running towards him. When she reached him, she tackled him, causing him to stumble a bit.

"You were supposed to fall to the ground," Lily pouted.

"Well, hate to break it to you Lily-flower, but I'm like a foot taller than you and you weigh way less than I do. You don't have much of a chance to make me fall."

James was speaking of falling physically, of course, because he knew better than to claim she hadn't already gotten him to fall in other ways.

...

Author's Note:
So a larger chapter, but surprisingly it didn't take me that long to write. Quidditch will always be hard for me to write.

If all goes to plan there should be around 30 chapters when I finish this fic. I should finish it around mid August, I think. I'm just trying to finish this fic before school starts for me, but whatever happens happens.

I was rereading POA the other day and the chapter Snape's Grudge is gold. POA is the best HP book and you can't convince me otherwise.

This Author's Note is getting ridiculously long, just like this chapter and now I'm just rambling about nonsense. It gives you a sense of who I am as a person.

Lmao anyways thanks for reading
-teddy👻

**edited April 2022