59 ~ Lions against Eagles

One bad idea away from another disaster.

Phil's POV:

     "This is going to be an exciting match!" Dorcas was fidgety.          We were at breakfast and Dorcas was not the only excited one; all of Gryffindor was looking forward to the upcoming match against Ravenclaw. The opposing team was strong this year and had kept up well against Slytherin: only the Snitch catch had brought the snakes their victory.     For this and other reasons, the brunette was excited. Dorcas could not sit still while trying to eat. Trying, because she had no appetite from excitement, though she needed the energy.     "You'll manage it," Mare encouraged Dorcas and had just finished her breakfast. The black-haired girl wore her long hair in a braided plait and her blue eyes looked at Dorcas encouragingly.     "You trained so much," Marlene said as well, sitting with Tara Summer beside us. Briefly her gaze travelled annoyed further down the Gryffindor table. I knew the Marauders were sitting there, though not because I had seen them, no, because James Potter and Sirius Black were currently laughing very loudly.

They seem to share one single brain cell, I thought and looked over my left shoulder.

     "It makes me aggressive," Lily stated simply and continued eating her breakfast.          "Because they're laughing?" I asked.     "No, because they exist."          I merely shrugged, then Alice said: "It's a mystery to us how you can speak normally with the Marauders and Lestrange."     I looked at her, then the others, who wore the same emotions upon their faces. Even Marlene, who had somewhat reconciled herself with Sirius again, though now labelled the Marauders a strange bunch.     "Maybe I approached them without prejudice?" I raised a brow. The girls could not reply anything to that, though Lily still muttered: "Prejudices built upon a very good foundation..." and drank her orange juice.     "But anyway," said Dorcas, who sat beside Lily and hugged her close, "Phil can do whatever she wants and maybe she'll gain knowledge about something of invaluable worth to us."          "Am I supposed to function as a spy now?" I asked and I had also finished my food.     "Of course!" Dorcas confirmed and showed her teeth in a grin, "But enough; we need to go, so come on, hurry!" she said and quickly stood up. Alice ate another piece of cake, which she ultimately had to take with her.     We walked out of the Great Hall. The other people slowly began moving as well. As always, a Quidditch match was a major event at Hogwarts, because even the professors attended it, like nearly all witches and wizards of the four houses.     "It's going to be brilliant, all of you have to cheer for me!" Dorcas continued excitedly and with the first stream of people we came out of the hall, where Alice was abducted from us, something Mare noticed.     "Where's Alice?" she asked and looked around. I searched the area as well. With all the people, it was difficult to keep an overview.

Moments in which I still don't feel comfortable.

     Went through my head while countless people walked towards me. Luckily Alice suddenly returned on her own, and with a red face.     "Where were you then, hm?" Mare trilled and eyed Alice, who held something in her hand.          "I saw Frank, or rather he saw me," she explained, though her voice was several octaves too high.     "Kissy, kissy," Dorcas said provokingly. Alice shot her a nasty look, though neither of them meant it maliciously.          "He asked whether we wanted to go to Hogsmeade together again in two weeks," Alice explained, then her gaze fell to her hand, "and he gave me a pendant." she showed the pendant, which one could attach to a necklace or bracelet and which was shaped like a glass flower.     "Oh, how sweet!" Mare was happy for Alice, as were Marlene and the others. Mare, for example, had recently spoken with a nice Ravenclaw who had invited her to Hogsmeade as well, which was why Mare and Alice currently found everything wonderful together.

Wonderful, though not the next situation...

     "And ready, Meadowes?" asked a voice.     None other than the Marauders had caught up to us. We had just stepped out of the castle. Immediately I sensed the presence of at least one person beside me. I looked to the right and discovered Remus and Sirius.     "And how is our enchanting Phil?" the black-haired boy asked, while James annoyed Lily. I looked at the other two of his kind and got an uneasy feeling. For two days they had been looking at me strangely, which was why I feared their revenge could come at any moment.

That my insides are tense because of it, I obviously will not admit.

     "I'm doing well, thanks...?"          "Brilliant," Sirius said.     Remus' green eyes looked at me. I held his gaze. It carried the meaning of a warning that my time in peace was of limited duration.     In that moment it once again became clear to me that Remus also possessed another side besides the usually nice Remus Lupin, who was often in the library, or the one carrying the burden of the werewolf curse. Beside those sides, he was a provoking Marauder. Sarcastic and annoying as well.     "No, I won't!" Lily protested and it was the indication that the world was turning correctly. James merely shrugged and moved away from Lily, only to walk exactly beside me, and on my other side at that.     "Phil, you have to explain to Lily that I do in fact have nice sides," he said mysteriously and his eyes wandered between Lily and me. He wore his Quidditch jumper and his hair was messily tousled as always. His gaze, however, was annoying, just like the raised brow.          "I'm not getting involved in that," I said.     Lily added: "Yes, don't annoy her. Wise words, Phil, and you," she added and looked at the boys, "away!"          "We're taking the same route."     "Don't care!"          "Don't care," came from Sirius in a high-pitched mocking imitation. Remus' cough signified suppressed laughter.     "Argh!" Lily growled, though the Marauders gave in and fell back behind us. Not far, but enough so Lily did not rage with fury and we continued our way towards the pitch. Only occasionally could one hear annoying attempts from them to gain our attention.     Once we reached the pitch, Remus and Peter joined us. Otherwise, however, they were not more annoying than usual.

James' POV:

     A Bludger shot past me, even grazed my arm, yet I could not be stopped. I flew towards the left hoop while the headwind rushed in my ears and tugged at my clothes. Behind me I sensed two Chasers, though it was already too late, because I swung out and the Quaffle lost contact with my hands. At the same time a Ravenclaw Chaser crashed into me, though immediately created distance between us and together we watched the Quaffle go through the middle ring.          "Goal for Gryffindor!" came from the commentator, "Gryffindor takes the lead again!"     My gaze swept over the cheering crowd. It was a breathtaking feeling. Even Dumbledore in the professors' tower stood up and clapped jubilantly, until he remembered that he was the Headmaster and should not take sides.     Properly composed, he stroked through his long beard and sat down again, while McGonagall threw him an amused look.

Yes, old Dumbledore.

     I did not think further about it, nor did I search the stands for Lily, because immediately we reformed again. Dorcas Meadowes got hold of the Quaffle and Padfoot shot a Bludger at the Chasers behind her. He hit the boy, though the Ravenclaw girl latched onto our Chaser, forcing me to act. Quickly I flew towards Meadowes and felt free in the skies. I reached the brunette and flew beneath her.     She spotted me and threw the Quaffle downwards. I caught it. Swiftly we descended lower in a dive, then upwards in a turn. Opponents flew towards me, so I had to pass the Quaffle and dodged a Bludger, which were exceptionally dangerous in today's game.          I threw the Quaffle to our other Chaser, who passed it back to Meadowes.     "More points for the proud lions!" came the cry and once again cheers erupted, making me grin.

     The game continued for a while longer and both teams collected many points. In the end our Seeker Timiffy found the Snitch quickly, far ahead of Ravenclaw's Seeker, which earned us the desired points. Naturally we were very happy because of it and all the way to the common room the mood had been exuberant.     But the Ravenclaws were satisfied as well, because they had earned many points. This year they were a strong team and still had to play against Hufflepuff, against whom they would certainly earn many points.     So it was not clear at all who would receive the Quidditch Cup this year, though in this moment it was unimportant. At present we were annoying the girls again, which was one of my favourite activities.

Ah, Lily. Your eyes may tell me that you do not want to see me, though they also sparkle beautifully.

     "Come on, just one sip," I tried my luck again and looked at Evans.          "No," came the strict reply.     Sirius said: "Phil?" he looked at the other redhead, who also shook her head, though then said: "Only if Remus does it."     Padfoot began laughing, nearly spilling the Firewhisky we were currently offering the girls, because Moony's face fell. He hated this drink and Phil seemed to have guessed it.     "Yeah, true," Meadowes said, "If you're already offering your Firewhisky, then all of you should drink it as well."          "I didn't offer it," Remus defended himself immediately.     Padfoot stopped laughing. I had to grin, because Phil replied: "But you're standing here."          And in that moment it became clear to me that I liked Phil very much.     "Come on, Remus, one big gulp," Padfoot teased and ruffled through his hair, having to stretch his arm to do so.          "Stop that and no!" he nearly snapped, though Sirius said: "But then Phil won't drink. Make a sacrifice."     After he finished speaking, I observed the scene, because Phil looked at Moony expectantly and the relationship between the two of them confused me more and more.

They shared a bed recently in the Hospital Wing.

     I would not uncover the mystery of this relationship now, which was why I looked at Moony, who had been persuaded by Padfoot. Remus looked at the shot glass in his hand as though it would kill him. Naturally it did not.     "I hate Firewhisky..." he whimpered, but then tipped the contents down his throat and shuddered. While he coughed, music sounded through the common room and the laughter of the other Gryffindors could be heard. There was an exuberant mood, which pleased me even more when Moony took the Firewhisky bottle from Padfoot and personally filled Phil's shot glass.     "Please, you wanted it this way," he said, though a teasing undertone could be heard in his voice, and Remus' face was faintly red from the whisky.     "Why do you agree to something so stupid?" Lily scolded Phil as she accepted the glass.          "Because Phil understands fun," Padfoot answered.     At the same time Phil tipped the red contents down. It quickly became clear that she had never drunk strong alcohol in her life, because Phil coughed and Lily eyed her worriedly. She was fine though, even if she had to endure laughter from us.     "It burns," Phil mumbled and Moony said sarcastically: "Oh really? It's not as if the name itself wasn't enough of an indication." which earned him a nasty look from Phil.

Nice.

     "Yes, but don't forget, what burns once can also burn twice," Padfoot's wisdom rang out and he took the bottle from Moony's hand.          "So, Evans?" he asked.      "No."          "Just one tiny sip?"     "No."          "Do you really want to be prudish?" I asked and her eyes flashed.     "I'm not prudish!"          "Then drink." I held the glass out to her.     Just as Macdonald and the others wanted to talk her out of it, Lily took the glass from my hand and tipped the shot down. And that she had thereby rendered her own words meaningless was obvious, because she had now also engaged in something stupid, at least for her.     "Impressive," I remarked, as Lily made less of a fuss than Remus, even if her right eye began watering. She seemed determined to suppress the reaction to the Firewhisky. In the end she still had to cough twice.     "Being prudish has nothing to do with drinking," McKinnon said and Sirius replied: "True. That can be proven in many other ways as well." he winked at her suggestively. She looked at him tiredly.     Padfoot was simply Padfoot and that would not change, at least not during tonight, because the evening went as expected, even if Lily shot us nasty looks, though deep down I knew she did not mean it like that, or at least I hoped so, very strongly.